This book explains a puzzle: In the midst of two massive oil booms in the 1970s, why did oil-exporting governments as different as Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, Algeria, and Indonesia choose common development paths and suffer similarly disappointing outcomes? In this work, Karl illuminates the manifold economic and political factors that determine the nature of the state in oil-exporting countries and explain why booms destabilize regimes while creating the illusion of prosperity.

Meticulously documented and theoretically innovative, Paradox of Plenty is essential reading for every political economist, Latin Americanist, and policy-maker.