"Resource curse":

Saudi Arabia Style Economics

• High-value, single-product economies
• Examples
  • Brazil- Sugar
  • Peru- Silver
  • Mexico- Silver

These 3 places were the centers & peripheries of development

*Unit ~1680, Peru produced far more silver than Mexico*

Huayra Technique

Traditional technique for smelting silver ore

Continued to be used until late 16th century

Huayra= oven built on a steep slope that uses high/cold mountain winds to heat the fire

Patio/Amalgamation Technique

Mita

1.  Method of processing silver w/mercury. Placed ore in "patios" w/mercury & then stomped on the mix. Replaced Huayra technique in the 16th century. Very high mortality rate in this process
2. Traditional term of service to a ruler. Spanish exploited to force 15,000 Indians into labor a year at Mt Potosi alone. 

Potosi, the Mountain of Silver

• Peru mining city
• Virgin Mary was portrayed in the form of Potosi Mt
• By 1600, pop about 150,000 (as large as London)
• Hard environment for both Spanish & Indians
• Coca leaves = stimulant (chewed w/alkaline paste). Huge business in selling leaves.
• Mitayo men paid (but very little)
• Women often support their families by selling goods at the market.

Zacatecas

• Major Mexican mining city
• Closer to capital city than Potosi was in Peru
• Relied mainly on free wage labor not a forced labor draft like the mita

What was the downside of a Saudi Arabian style economy?

What is the "Resource Curse"?

Refers to the paradox that countries & regions w/an abundance of natural resources tend to have less economic growth & worse development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources. 

How does the "resource curse"