The 2000s witnessed an unprecedented boom in raw material production, that allowed elites in capital poor and resource rich countries considerable policy leeway. Political leaders of these countries reviewed their mining contracts, formed alliances, threatened to nationalize assets and – in some cases – invested revenues sustainably in education and social services. Fifty years ago, a wave of independencies of former colonies and reconstruction in Europe sparked a similar resource boom that was highly amplified by the reaction of most OPEC countries to the Yom Kippur War. This seminar will discuss the reactions of highly import-dependent EU industry to these two crises.
