Posted by aogWednesday, 09 June 2004 at 13:07 TrackBack Ping URL

I still read, now and then, calls to nationalize Iraq’s oil industry. Usually this is suggested in a “just because” way on the basis that the USA is mostly free market, the USA is evil, therefore nationalized industries are good. Others make odd claims that nationalizing the industry would help pay to rebuild Iraq, presumably because the only way for a government to get money out of an industry is to own it.

What I find strange is that, as far I know, no examples of a country benefitting economically from nationalizing their oil industry. Yet this is no deterrent, it being more important to “determine the economic direction of a country democratically” than to benefit from the oil resources. Of course, “democratically determine” is short hand for “hand control to a self-selected elite”. It’s a good job if you can be one of the government oil ministers, but it’s not clear how it helps the citizenry. I guess they get to feel politically empowered instead.