58. "There is a striking lack of correlation between natural resorces and standard of living."

"There is a striking lack of correlation between natural resorces and standard of living. Countries like Japan and Switzerland are among the richest in the world despite having relatively poor endowments of natural resources. Countries like Nigeria are just the opposite; enormous oil wealth has done relatively litte for the nation's standard of living. In some cases, the mineral wealth of Africa has financed bloody civil wars that would have otherwise died out. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has most of the oil while Israel, with no natural resources to speak of, has the highest per capita income."

From "Naked Economics" by Charles Wheelan, W.W. Norton & Company