Democracies use windfalls from international commodity price booms to reduce external debt. Autocracies tend to spend them
COMMODITY-exporting countries often experience large commodity price shocks that pose serious challenges to their macroeconomic stability. For example, the sudden influx of foreign earnings from a surge in commodity prices can increase a country’s real exchange rate (the nominal exchange rate, adjusted for inflation) and make its noncommodity exports less competitive. The effect of such unanticipated price changes on the competitiveness of commodity exporters has been studied widely by economists.
There are other significant, if less studied, repercussions on commodity-exporting countries from such price shocks, which boost both foreign reserves and government revenue.
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