Calorie restriction prevents Dutch Disease

Insufficient resources: "a blessing in disguise" for living organisms and states
George ILIEV

Calorie restriction - a diet usually containing 30% fewer calories but with the nutrients of a standard diet - is associated with increased life span in a range of living organisms, including primates, mice, drosophila flies and yeast. Restrictions in protein intake also lead to improve health as cells recycle waste protein much more efficiently and repair themselves more successfully.

The same principle is visible in a series of macroeconomic failures known as Dutch Disease. Countries with abundant natural resources, such as oil-rich states in Africa and Latin America, end up wasting these resources in a spectacularly profligate way. On the other hand, countries with limited natural resources, e.g. Japan, Singapore and Switzerland, mobilise themselves by minimising waste and building functioning institutions and thus achieve significantly higher productivity than their resource-endowed counterparts.

Photo: Oil pumpjack (Source: Wikipedia)