OPINION

Venice suffers from 'beauty curse'

Oped, Edoardo Campanella, Published on 10/09/2024

» Countries with great wealth or natural abundance often fall victim to their own blessings. Economists have long known that resource-rich countries can get stuck in cycles of slow economic growth, intense environmental degradation, and weak democratic institutions. But places endowed with a unique artistic and architectural heritage also can suffer from this "resource curse". Breathtaking monuments from a storied past can generate economic rents and sectoral distortions, not unlike those created by large reserves of fossil fuels and precious minerals.