The economic consequences of an oil economy

Rawle LewisCombined efforts

Having seen what has happened over the years to many economies of oil-producing countries, the thought has crossed the minds of many Guyanese as to what oil will do to this country. Surprisingly many are not concerned about the standard ills of corruption and internal strife that have been seen in many oil-producing countries. In any event, this writer addressed those issues among others in a two-part article last year. The concern is more about inequity and the risk of misalignment of economic policies with economic opportunities.  This article seeks to examine the more favourable thoughts about an oil economy. It does begin however with an explanation of why adding oil to the production structure of Guyana matters.

For the better part of 40 years Guyana has been