Iraqi Oil Wealth

I use this Hawken Blog post to bring up something important about Iraqi oil wealth: You will not see Iraq turn into a rich state overnight just because of the oil. When people hear the phrase "oil wealth," they tend to think back to the stereotype of wealthy Gulf emirates like Kuwait, whose massive social spending even made my sixth grade reading book. However, these Gulf states combine large oil wealth with another variable: small populations. Iraq and Iran each have large amounts of oil, but it will generate a lot less wealth per person given their relatively huge populations.