History demonstrates the difficulty of avoiding the so-called “resource curse” – and that it does not plague only less-developed countries like Nigeria, as many assume. In the 1980’s, the United Kingdom’s North Sea-driven oil and gas boom undermined the country’s broad-based economic competitiveness, while Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government wasted much of the revenue on handouts that encouraged excessive consumption.
历史表明，避免所谓的“资源诅咒”是十分困难的，正如很多人所认为的，并非只有尼日利亚等欠发达国家才会受这一诅咒的困扰。20世纪80年代，英国北海石油和天然气开发破坏了该国基础广泛的经济竞争力，而首相撒切尔夫人的政府将大笔收入浪费在鼓励过度消费的宣传上。