Power Corrupts Blood Diamond / Blood Chocolate
Jul 4, 2019
Carol Off, the renowned host of CBC's As It Happens and author of Bitter Chocolate, dives into the dark side of global trade. She discusses how resource-rich nations often struggle with poverty and conflict, shedding light on the cocoa and vanilla industries. The conversation spotlights the disturbing realities of child labor in cocoa production and the ethical dilemmas surrounding chocolate consumption. Off also examines the exploitation in Papua New Guinea and the violent struggles within the vanilla market, prompting a reevaluation of our choices.
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Resource Wealth Can Become A Curse
- Natural resource windfalls often trigger corruption, inflation, and economic collapse rather than broad prosperity.
- Brian Klaas and Raymond Bleichvitz explain this 'resource curse' with historical and modern examples.
Price Swings Fuel Political Instability
- Commodity price volatility can paper over social tensions during booms and trigger conflict during busts.
- Brian Klaas links cocoa price collapses to ethnic tensions and civil war in Ivory Coast.
Type Of Resource Shapes Its Risks
- The form of a resource matters: hard-to-extract deposits favor state control while alluvial deposits empower informal actors.
- Raymond Bleichvitz shows how secondary diamonds enable easy smuggling and financing for rebels.
