Oil is a Curse: According to this fine article from Fortune magazine, of all places, having lots of oil has been a bad thing for most countries, especially the average citizens. The article focuses on how an influx of oil money into an economy discourages broader development of agricultural, manufacturing and service industries. It discusses how the discovery of oil in Venezuela has turned it from one of the wealthiest and most stable countries in Latin America into an economic and political disaster. Unfortunately, the article studiously avoids the brutal attention a country gets from Bushes and other thieves that also results from having oil.