Session Proposal for the World Economic History Congress (WEHC) 28 July-1 August 2025 in Lund, Sweden.

Session title: Flowers of Evil? Natural resources and reversals of fortune

Session theme:
Are natural resources a curse or a blessing? History offers numerous examples of how good geography is conducive to economic growth, for example how natural reserves of energy (water streams, coal, etc) have helped wealth formation through industrialisation. On the other hand, history also offers examples of the opposite, such as Dutch disease, i.e. when natural resources (precious metals, oil, etc) causes inflation or neglect of other sectors of the economy. Both situations could result in reversals of fortune, from bad to good or good to bad. Indeed, recent research – under the heading of flowers of evil – has raised awareness that technological advantages linked to natural resources (e.g. coal for steam engines) might encourage investments in skill-saving technologies that promote economic progress during early stages of development but leave the workforce relatively uneducated. A relatively uneducated workforce might then struggle to adopt subsequent and more advanced technologies ultimately preventing further economic growth (e.g. Franck and Galor JME 2021). This session is interested in papers that document such experiences. Studies looking at the short and long term outcomes of interactions between natural resources and the adoption of resource-specific technologies are warmly welcomed, as are studies focusing on both the positive and negative short and long run effects of natural resources more generally, especially those leading to a documentable reversal of fortune.

Submission guideline:
Please submit your paper proposal (abstract) of no more than 500 words alongside your curriculum vitae to Bjorn Brey: bjorn.brey@ulb.be, Mauro Rota: mauro.rota@uniroma1.it, Valeria Rueda: valeria.rueda@nottingham.ac.uk, and Jacob Weisdorf: jacob.weisdorf@uniroma1.it no later than 1 December 2023.

Selected papers will be included in a proposal for a full session for the WEHC. Acceptance is conditional on the proposal being accepted for the congress. Upon acceptance, a pre-session will be considered for 2024.

Session organisers:
Bjorn Brey (University of Oxford), Valeria Rueda (University of Nottingham), Mauro Rota and Jacob Weisdorf (Sapienza University of Rome).