Economics and Ethics in the Development of Natural Resources

Abstract

Natural resources of all kinds from the air we breathe to the zinc we mine have been a major source of conflict among people and societies for as long as human wants have exceeded their capacity to satisfy them. Perhaps eviction from the Garden of Eden dates the beginning of such conflict as much as the need for economics. The emergence of the independent nations of the South highlights certain types of conflict and raises economic and moral issues which are of importance, not only to us, but to future generations. This paper seeks to identify the areas both of conflict and of common interest between the various actors in North-South relationships in the exploitation of natural resources. Because the subject is both wide and complex, this chapter concentrates mainly on two principal actors — the managements of multinational corporations (MNCs) and the governments of developing or less-developed countries (LDCs) — and on their role in the development of mineral resources. Although the nations of the North have often been involved directly or indirectly in disputes with the South over natural resources, especially oil, it is generally the MNCs and the governments or public enterprises of the LDCs which have been engaged in the front line.