Stability: The Key Economic Asset

Right now, it seems like the biggest economic asset is stability, way more than oil. Countries that can’t provide that stability, no matter how many natural resources they have, are facing huge issues: people are leaving, local currencies are losing value, businesses are switching from long-term goals to short-term fixes, cutting back on investments, and overall productivity is taking a hit. It’s pretty clear that productivity hinges more on stability than on resources. A stable nation with less in terms of resources can totally outshine a resource-rich country. Just look at how Belgium, with its limited resources, is doing better than oil-rich Nigeria, for instance. And let's not forget, trust is turning into a major economic asset too.

The only reason why a stable country ( in your own view ) will surely surpass the richer ones in resources is because there are people using those resources for their one selfish gains. .. Many foreign countries are been distabilize intentionally by another country because this another country have their eyes on the resources that the supposed richer country have. Multiple resources is everything, let's just blame the greedy politicians who choose to make those resources their own breeding ground, embezzling of the money, moving them into some foreign bank accounts. Your so called stable countries with less resources, what makes them stable? Because their currency isn't bitcoin anyways, it's fiats and every fiats in the world are slaves to inflation.

A country's stability includes political stability , economic stability , institutional and social stability and no government is that fit to provide all these. And for sure the under developing nations lack all of these by one way or the other. comparison of Nigeria with Belgium doesn't make any since. Better you compare KSA, Dubai or Kuwait with Belgium. The corrupt politicians , printing of excessive fiat , unnecessary conflicts and continuous regime changes are the main factors which causes a country's destabilization's.

In the case of Nigeria you cited, it's far beyond resource ownership and more of mismanagement and corruption. If we critically look at Belgium, it might be that they might not be too far in production than Nigeria, but they've been able to manage whatever they have judiciously, as a Nigerian, I can tell you that the level of wastage in our budgetary system alone, is enough to plunge the economy into economic downturn. So productivity doesn't just start in an economy, people make it to be possible, hence the political will is there, every other thing will fall inline.

A stable country is a country that's free from crisis and that will add positive impact to the economy because everyone will have focus to achieve the same goal. Since the country is free from crisis it will make foreign investors come and invest because there are good security and less violence. Nigeria that you used as an example is having terrorist attacks since 2008 till date and it's even escalating the war due to corruption. How do you expect such a country to be stable.

Yes, this is certainly the case but that stability often takes a long time to build but can actually be dismantled in a relatively short time if pressure can be applied in the right places. Just look at many of the so-called "checks and balances" in America that have totally disintegrated, Trump is writing more executive orders - bypassing all other lawmakers - than any other president in history and has sought to weaken any institution that has tried to stand against him, like the central bank and knocks out any politician in his party that does not act completely loyal. This makes it even easier for any future president to be even more extreme, wiping away things like the Supreme Court if they continued to disagree with his many policies. All this is extremely bad for the long term future of America as we know it, or idolized it for so long.

Trade is based on movements and not stability. Sales of goods have different prices, mostly due to harvest issues. Production has several sources most have different issues every year. The only one wishing for stable prices is the consumer. Once a consumer becomes a seller he thinks more like a shark.

I think stability is good for economic growth, buy I think resource is very good for economic growth as well. The only reason why you feel that stability is more important than resources is because you are talking about a country that lack good management in their leadership.  Using Nigeria as an example of country that has a lot of resources,  but are nit doing well economically,  I believe that could be attributed to the bad leaders that the country has had over time, that refuse to put the resources to the right use. We have other countries in the middle east that are also rich in oil and we can can see how good their economy is way better than thay of Nigeria, because they have got better leaders that tend to manage their resources better. In my opinion I think stability is important,  but it has to go with resources and good management.

Stability is one of the most fundamental characteristics for a country to achieve its goals. Steady progress ensures that plans are implemented as intended and that the intended objectives are met. Stability is indispensable in any endeavor. If a country can make steady progress in its endeavors, its citizens will be satisfied and will benefit from this situation to the fullest. Ensuring stability is no easy task. In some countries, achieving the desired positive outcomes is difficult because such outcomes do not materialize immediately and require careful planning and hard work. It takes time to carry out this work consistently and to elevate the economy to a higher level.

A country with abundant resources will become richer, especially if those resources are utilized effectively. The opposite will occur if a country human resources are inadequate to manage those resources effectively, and this is usually due to a lack of technological knowledge, or a lack of capital. Furthermore, a country poor efficiency can be a major factor in poor resource management, especially if corruption is prevalent. Well, as far as I know, many countries are rich because they have resources, but again, it all depends on the efficiency of the country government, and the stability of a country is also determined by this. By the way, there is a term called the "resource curse" for countries with poor efficiency (or, low economic growth), just fyi. Reference : wikipedia.org - Resource curse

That of Nigeria is a know go area, as there problem has gone beyond imagination and control but in a way such that there faith can only be determined by God alone.  I will say the insecurity challenge affected Nigeria now is as a result of political instability and corrupt leadership system of Nigerian leaders because with the depth of Nigeria military it would be difficult for those insurgents to win in a battle but because corruption has eaten up the system the Nigerian soldiers will still be defeated. Using Nigeria as an example is a waste of time because that stability can never be possible now and even tomorrow until a refined set of leaders are elected into power.

I agree with you, i also see my financial healthy from my ability to maintain stability during uncertainty. In individual level, financially healthy person not always rich but has stable cashflow, don't have debt pressure / zero debt, has emergency fund saving and can make planning without continuously live on fear. So with financial stability create calm and peace psychological space to think rationally and productively. In state level, economically stable country has sign as their currency trusted, controlled inflation, consistent policies, good law regulation and good governance. Wich such condition, investor interested, business man willing to expand and people are saving money and plan the future. Trust very important because financial healty of a country depend heavily on trust. Without it, when stability is lost, people strat seek safe assets, consumption shifts to survival mode, long term investment declines with ended with productivity declines. Todays, modern society start pursue leverage & asset, middle class feel squezeed and there are change on social recognition. All because stability weakening so people stop believeing old way and they seek acceleration, and brave to take greater risk.

Stability isn't as much about economics as people like to think. What matters is whether someone has enough psychological room to imagine life beyond next month. Systems that are healthy do not give rise to capital flight or obsessive short-term thinking. They seem to occur when institutions lose their role of building trust and begin to trigger self-preservation. If the environment becomes unpredictable, all organisms on earth adapt to short horizon behaviour. Humans included. A lot of sophisticated language gets layered onto these situations. In fact, it's often only rational fear going through a crowd, on a massive scale. What impact does it have on persons? Nobody commits to thirty years of payments unless they believe the financial ground beneath them will stay mostly still. That's a leap of faith in continuity in institutions. Get rid of this faith and see how all their choices will be affected.

💯 agree with the write up! Lack of stability makes it difficult to plan or make long term decisions because there is uncertainty... for businesses for example this could affect their forecasts in terms of cost or profits as exchange rates could be fluctuating constantly which could prompt for regular adjustments which makes it difficult to plan for... For investors such uncertainty is never going to attract investor money because this raises the risk factor.. that is why countries with unstable political environments never get the help they need because risk of investment is too high for anyone!

The main cause of this is because resource curse. Resource rich country are falling into trap of easy money, refusing to invest heavily into education because pumping oil is easy but cultivating human is not. Small country with scarce resource knows that education is very important so they invested in it earlier and earning massively in this world of trust based economic system. Europe thrive by having service economy.

Stability is attained when there's the right structure on ground and the government of such an environment is willing to come up with a long term developmental plan that keeps her economy moving in a particular part. An unstable government can not produce a stable economy and that's the case with the likes of Nigeria that have failed to get in right at Thier governance level and in that way, the economy continues to suffer for it.

how can you be productive when you dont have resources? you must definitely have something that will be utilized to be productive in return, and that is resources. in conclusion, a country without resources can not be productive. yeah i agree with you that a country with fewer resources can outperform a country with large resources base on stability,  productivity and consistency. but dont forget that low productivity is dependent on government. when the leadership style is corrupt, there will definitely be poor production and mismanagement. and that is the case of the country you mentioned Nigeria.

Nobody or organization will want to invest in a country where their asset or businesses are at risk. Political instability, tribal war, religious crisis and unstable economic policies will always discourage investors. Regardless of the natural resources that are available, a business needs time to grow and start making profit. This is why the Middle East nations are doing everything possible to end the hostility in Iran. They will love their reputation as a safe tourism hub if this war continues. Recently, I was searching for a country that I could visit, and I came across Botswana. They have few mineral resources, but their main competitive advantage is political and economic stability. Trust is as essential as resources.

In addition of what you said in today's world stability is the most valuable resource, why because if stability is rare in a country, the country begins see some setback, instances of like  lesser productivity, not performing to make the  country out of poorverty, so stability is very relevant to a country, so for the benefit of the economic growth of the  country. Stability is valuable, it makes a country uncomparison, taking the nation forward to achieve so many goals, stability is not just justified as the valuable resources of a country but also how consistent growth the nation is, and irrespective of natural resources the nation has.

You need to understand why a country becomes unstable. There are many reasons behind the instability of a country, the main one being financial inefficiency. Political and social stability depends on the financial management and productivity of that country. If the people of a country cannot meet their basic needs, there will be no social stability in that country and it will affect the politics of that country because crime will continue to increase in the society. Financial solvency is a prerequisite for social stability. No matter how you argue, if the economy of a country is not good, the citizens of that country will be involved in various criminal activities. The administration will be corrupt and dictators will seize power under the guise of democracy and build mountains of wealth and wealth will be under the control of the influential community.