Book Chapter
A Growth Collapse with Diffuse Resources

This chapter examines the growth collapse in Ghana. The country’s development trajectory followed that of staple strap model of resource-abundant countries. The model predicts that in the absence of either a developmental autonomous benevolent state or a consensual democracy, a resource-dependent country will drift towards an inward looking trade policy and dependence on a weakening primary sector; an external shock to such an economy is likely to cause a growth collapse. Policy failure was the main cause of Ghana’s growth collapse.