In the 17th century Bolivia was considered the richest country in the Americas because of the Potosi silver mine while the eastern seaboard of America was basically a poverty stricken nowhere.

Now Bolivia is the poorest country in the Americas and the US is the richest. This is basically why.

The answer is - it works fine until the resource price drops or you run out of it.

Kuwait may be fat and content now but it has a dark future ahead of it once they stop being able to live off foreign cash.

Nauru's birdshit apocalypse.

https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/10/world/a-pacific-island-na...