Week 7 - Percy Yan

In the article, Botswana's success: Good Governance, Good Policies, and Good Luck by Michael Lewin, he talks about Botswana's economic and social growth. Botswana is a sparsely populated, arid, landlocked country; at independence it was also one of the poorest countries in the world with per capita income of just $70 a year. According to Lewin, Botswana's extraordinary growth was fueled by minerals particularly diamonds. At independence, the country's main export and largest sector, contributed 39 percent of GDP. From independence until 1970s, international aid dominated the government budget and was the main source of foreign exchange. At that time, the mineral sector like diamonds began to take off and soon became the dominant sector. Mineral-based countries seem to be prone to bad government and others have termed it "good economics, bad politics". In almost all developing countries, the government owns the mineral resources and is therefore, the main recipient of the revenues from their extraction. Landlocked Botswana seems to have defied the odds by creating a successful economy. Poverty has been reduced, education has become more widespread, and health indicators had improved all throughout the nation.