Diversify or perish: Venezuela’s meltdown and the oil curse

Venezuela has been in a state of meltdown for the past two years, but is now in danger of fully collapsing. Citizens are fleeing the country and its neighbors are tightening controls over their borders to prevent more Venezuelans from arriving. Why is this happening in what is potentially one of the richest countries in the world? The Venezuelan experience has puzzled social scientists for decades and now worries all of us regarding the spillovers of the crisis on its neighbors and globally. How are other oil producers to immunize themselves against such a fate? More…