There's little in economics which is absolutely determinitive, and for a study whose formative work is titled An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, there's remarkable little by way of a generally accepted theory of national prosperity and decline, as leading luminaries will freely admit (Tony Atkinson and Paul Krugman do so here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=3l6E3mUNW70&t=38m53s).
There are several powerful mechanisms, however, of which Dutch Disease / resource curse is one. (There's also Twyla Tharp's wonderful "Whom the gods wish to destroy, they give unlimited resources.")
Understanding how it does apply, and why, and where it doesn't, is useful. I've pointed at mitigations for both. exceptions you note, though you don't appear to consider them.
Paper, pen, and ink are useful in communications. But neither paper, pens, or ink do this exclusively, nor by themselves. The blank page, the one uniformly covered in ink, or the one scribbled on at random, communicate nothing. This doesn't mean paper, pens, and ink useless. Markings made according to rules of recognised charactersets, words, spelling, grammar, reference to existing facts, references, and concepts, logic, narrative, metaphore, nuance, and culture ... may succeed in communicating something. Occasionally truth.
Theory of political economy operates similarly. Beware those offering blank pages, spilt ink, random scribbles, or writing lacking, or ignoring, coherence or correspondences.
There are several powerful mechanisms, however, of which Dutch Disease / resource curse is one. (There's also Twyla Tharp's wonderful "Whom the gods wish to destroy, they give unlimited resources.")
Understanding how it does apply, and why, and where it doesn't, is useful. I've pointed at mitigations for both. exceptions you note, though you don't appear to consider them.
Paper, pen, and ink are useful in communications. But neither paper, pens, or ink do this exclusively, nor by themselves. The blank page, the one uniformly covered in ink, or the one scribbled on at random, communicate nothing. This doesn't mean paper, pens, and ink useless. Markings made according to rules of recognised charactersets, words, spelling, grammar, reference to existing facts, references, and concepts, logic, narrative, metaphore, nuance, and culture ... may succeed in communicating something. Occasionally truth.
Theory of political economy operates similarly. Beware those offering blank pages, spilt ink, random scribbles, or writing lacking, or ignoring, coherence or correspondences.