Notes on Guyana

I’m a bit suspicious of how Lakeman can write the history of a country I barely know anything about and make it into such a fascinating story. Nonetheless, on the surface, it seems very well researched. Here is his summary:

Sometimes while writing these 25,000+ word posts, I feel the need to justify why anyone would want to read about a random country they may or may not have heard of. My pitch for reading about Guyana is that its history involves two death cults, diverse leadership (including individuals of the male, female, black, Indian, white, Chinese, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, and Jewish persuasion), a semi-race war, a legal argument over the definition of the word, “majority,” CIA-backed regime change, a conspiracy to thwart a multi-national territorial arbitration, and the largest per capita oil discovery in the history of mankind.

…

Guyana is going to be fascinating to watch over the next decade. One of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere is suddenly one of the wealthiest. A political basket case has been handed an impossible bounty and it could produce one of the greatest national economic transformations of the modern era, right up there with Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

To be honest, I’m not optimistic. I think Saudi Arabia really was an anomaly of competence and the other Arab petrol-states followed suit. I think Guyana has low human capital, deeply entrenched tribalism, and impossible-to-dislodge corruption, so, sadly, the world will probably get another Libya/Angola/Nigeria/Venezuela. But I wish it the best. I hope it can overcome Dutch Disease, the Resource Curse, corruption, nepotism, racism, inefficiency, elite theft, mob pandering, and all the other usual problems that come with great resource wealth.