Mongolia is on the verge of plunging itself into prolonged economic gloom, and its predicament offers telling lessons for external observers about the dangers that arise from the interface between finance and politics.
The country is rich in natural resources: its vast sweeps of plains and rock are rich reserves of coal, iron, uranium, gold and other precious metals. Coal reserves of 175 billion tonnes have been identified.
These and the rest of the country’s natural resources hold the key to Mongolia’s economic future but they remain buried. Politicians wrangle with foreign firms about the manner in which they are to be extracted and what share of the resulting riches belongs...
