Oil to Cash: Fighting the Resource Curse through Cash Transfers

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Natural resources and the income they generate can stifle development by undermining the relationship between citizens and their state. In a series of papers and a book, CGD’s Todd Moss proposed oil-to-cash—direct distribution of resource revenues—to encourage a “social contract” in resource-rich countries. The income generated by resource extraction can be distributed directly to citizens and then taxed by governments. With a personal stake in the government’s budget, the citizens could then hold the government accountable for providing goods and services with their taxes.