Research on economics of colonialism is in fashion because of Nobel 2024. Nobel Laureates Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson show how post colonisation, the colonised country had reversal of fortune wherein the richer colonies became poorer overtime.
Davis Kedrosky and Nuno Palma point to reversal of fortune for the coloniser – Portugal
Throughout the early modern period, Portugal was a leading European colonial power. But by the 19th and 20th centuries, it was one of the poorest nations in Western Europe. This column explores the resource curse as an explanation for the Portuguese decline. The influx of Brazilian gold in the 18th century shifted production towards land-intensive, non-tradable goods and promoted the import of English manufactured goods, at the expense of domestic industry. The substantial appreciation of the real exchange rate likely reduced employment in Portugal’s nascent manufacturing and cereal agricultural sectors, blocking Portugal’s path towards structural transformation and industrialisation.
Mostly Economics 
