Commodity money can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on the context. In autocratic regimes that use it to maintain power and favor certain groups, it can lead to more frequent wars and social and economic issues. However, there are exceptions to this trend, such as Norway, Australia, Canada, Chile, and Botswana, which have demonstrated that resource wealth can lead to prosperity and democracy.

In countries like Iran and Russia, a small elite benefits from the wealth generated by natural resources while the general population struggles. Both countries face economic challenges despite their resource wealth due to international sanctions and corruption. The gap between the elite and the rest of the population is significant in these countries, leading to social and economic issues.

Resource-rich countries often struggle with autocratic leadership, low economic growth, and inequality due to their dependence on raw materials. This dependence can hinder economic development and lead to conflicts as seen in Libya, Angola, Sudan among others. Strong institutions, a functioning democracy, responsible investment of resource revenues are key factors that can help countries escape the resource curse and achieve broad prosperity.

To make the exceptions the rule, countries need to address issues related to political institutions corruption diversion of resource revenues towards long term prosperity like Russia and Iran do. Civil society plays an essential role in demanding transparency accountability from political leaders by investing diversification of economy ensuring that resource revenues benefit entire population they can escape the curse of resources