Discuss whether a country exporting it's raw materials always benefits it's economy
Answers
Answer: In some countries, mineral resources represent a huge source of income and wealth. But resource abundance does not always bring sustained economic growth and development – it can have the opposite effect, which is sometimes referred to as the “resource curse”.
The mining sector generally provides little direct employment in the countries and regions where extraction occurs. Seeking to create more jobs, some countries restrict the export of unprocessed minerals in an effort to encourage the creation of higher-value downstream processing jobs in the domestic market.
Export restrictions of raw materials are also used to meet other objectives; for example, to generate revenue for the government, to control the export of illegally mined products, to enhance environmental protection, or to offset exchange rate impacts caused by exports of several commodities. These are all legitimate policy goals to be determined in each country by its citizens’ preferences.