How the World's Richest Country Lost 90% of its GDP

In the 1980s Nauru was the richest country in the world on a per capita basis. Nauru's wealth can be entirely attributed to its deposits of Phosphate, a substance used in fertilizers. However, by the early 2000s they had completely run out of Phosphate the country's GDP declined by more than 90%.
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[@DrDeFord]

Wait, so Australia is sending the people they find undesirable across the seas to essentially a penal island? I wonder where they got that idea from.

[@firelord7776]

Thanks for this comment, I have not even recognized the irony myself😂

[@sirsurnamethefirstofhisnam7986]

Tbf it’s what you should expect from them in the situation 😂

[@haydnmclennan4739]

at least we aren't sending our own citizens I guess🤷🏼‍♂

[@DumitruUrsu]

It's penal islands all the way down, until you reach turtles 💀

[@spicychad55]

Thanks to England for sending its criminals and degens to Aussieland and USA!

[@michaelimbesi2314]

Wow. Worst economic drop in history and an economy wholly dependent on Australia using it as a penal colony, and yet Nauru somehow *still* manages to be better than Argentina. XD

[@FDGiovanni]

Yeah... * cries in argentinian *

[@larryc1616]

and Venezuela...

[@richhornie7000]

@@JO-og5tp if anything the reason why the world cup matters so much is the fact that it's the last glimmer of hope for Argentinians to at least have pride in their country. They don't forget the triple digit inflation or the continued decline of their economy, but a single relief in the sea of problems grant them the will to go on even if just a little bit more.

[@johnwoods7650]

Except in football.

[@richhornie7000]

@user-rh7ch6no2r when Messi himself gets their wrath for a decade you know they wouldn't treat random poor brown people in neighboring countries any better lol

[@雷-t3j]

Nauru is also interesting because it raises the question of can a country be too small? I doubt there's much you can diversify the economy with when you're on a tiny island with only 10, 000 people, and large portions are uninhabitable.

[@tomlxyz]

I think the remoteness is more of an issue than the size. It makes import and export just too expensive. If it was just a country on a continent it might just keep going

[@jantjarks7946]

Show us small countries which had not to deal with foreign interventions like colonialism or communism and are poor. If we ignore the history of a country, we cannot understand if a country is "too small" for a successful economy. I would claim no country is too small if managed correctly from the beginning. 🤔😉

[@niclaswenzel8689]

​@@jantjarks7946 there probably aren´t many countries that "had not to deal with foreign interventions like colonialism or communism" small or big. So by that standard someone can just pick the rich ones and discard all the others. In addition to that most of the countries that fail don´t exist anymore, so they fall out of the statistics, too. Most small countries vanish because of being conquered though.

[@mi12no]

It can be small if it has resources and a military

[@jantjarks7946]

Isn't it sad that violence is chosen as the measurement of a country being too small or not? A lot of small countries even from today wouldn't survive if that would be true. As such, it probably more reflects your mindset, not the case if a country is too small or not. 🤔🤷😉

[@brooishu]

As President Franklin Roosevelt once stated, “A nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself."

[@14534]

He was a terrible president

[@southend26]

That's why Germany and Australia destroyed Nauru's soil instead. 🙃

[@mynameismynameyourname6197]

How?

[@Cordman1221]

@14534 yeah the dude who took a nation in the throes of the worst economic failure in its history and left it The predominant superpower on earth was a 'bad' president. This is your brain on fascism lolol🤣🤣🤣

[@wintaaaaa]

It would have been more profiatable if they used the phosphate to farm themselves

[@21gioni]

As an Australian I remember that Nauru owned most of the prime realestate in the City of Melbourne. It was a very sad day when we learned about what happened to them. The country was forced to sell this prime realestate during the worst recession and they lost on the sale of the property.

[@federicomadden9236]

You must have been like "Oh nauru!!"

[@miah5561]

@@federicomadden9236 lol

[@michaelcooney7687]

When I first went to Melbourne and saw Nauru house, a tall sophisticated looking building, I remember thinking WOW they are really going well…😢

[@21gioni]

@@michaelcooney7687 Nauru House had the fastest lifts in Melbourne and when you step out of it the static build up always gave you an electric shock. They also owned a number of pubs and restaurants around Melbourne. Near Spencer Street Station at the top end of Burke Street. It was a shame to see all these things go. One property remained derelict for almost 12 years. Planning wouldn’t approve plans for the site.

[@21gioni]

@@federicomadden9236 We actually enjoyed mingling with the Nauru people. It’s shameful what has happened to them.

[@thebestcentaur]

So Nauru basically became the ship from WALL-E

[@TSERJI]

🗿

[@jesseferguson8341]

Moral: If you want to start a country, make sure to diversify your country's economy

[@buttAttack]

Bro they tried but just had bad RNG

[@Robert-cu9bm]

Make sure you're also sponsored by raid Shadow legends.

[@jesseferguson8341]

@@Robert-cu9bm Indeed

[@jesseferguson8341]

@@Robert-cu9bm And defend the country by using NordVPN

[@larryc1616]

Saudi Arabia, uae, Bahrain, Russia will all go the same way when fossil fuel prices collapse permanently as they are abandoned for green energy in about 10 years or less

[@pcproffy]

This is like a real life version of Tropico 6. There's actually a scenario where you turn your country into a prison colony as a way to make money. Who knows, maybe this country is where the developers got the idea from?

[@RolanJhehanMElaco]

Or Australia

[@chris0000924]

This totally reminded me of Tropico 6

[@UwUeboi]

@DontReadMyProfilePhoto_1ok 👍

[@alexvirtanen439]

That mission takes place in the World Wars era. So it was probably based on something else

[@megapeiron]

No, the country they got the idea is Cuba.

[@shitbrick89]

Very interesting video, but a shame you didnt show any actual footage from Nauru. You show the open cut mines, but the moonscape of Nauru is very different, with the most of the island covered by massive pinnacles. I was in Nauru a few years ago and they talked about the good old days of when they could just go into the bank and take thousands of dollars out of the bank and nobody cared when the wind blew a few hundred away. They also said the police commissioner's car was a Maserati. Very interesting country to visit, their policies of land ownership massively complicate things. When people disagreed with the president they set fire to his house and pushed his car into his pool.

[@dreamcastH]

Anyone else find it a bit frustrating that they deemed it too expensive to make any efforts to fix the farm land while also importing sports cars for everyone and allowing folks to just retire whenever. Seems like one of those situations where people were comfortable with their life style and not that it was actually too expensive to prevent an inevitable problem.

[@lukemorgan6166]

Benefit the rich is all it does. All government ever does is suit the elites

[@GamesFromSpace]

Those are completely different scales, it would probably cost billions to undo all that damage done for the profit of other nations.

[@stephenc2481]

Many of these troubled countries have greedy politicians, out for themselves. Long term planning is essential for the country. It is like personal success, they could make use of a good finance and investment team, while they have the income to do something. With that kind of natural resource, all of the islanders would live like royals, off of the interest from investments.

[@za8bchem]

Europeans

[@jondoe4624]

@@za8bchem Europeans weren't driving sports cars around a tiny island and quitting their jobs to live on phosphate payments

[@marcusmoonstein242]

Is there such a thing as a country being too small to be self-sustaining? I know places like the Vatican and Monaco survive because they've found ways to bring in a constant stream of foreign money, but at some point of smallness it must become impossible for a country to function by itself.

[@FlintIronstag23]

Nauru is probably at that threshold. At least Vatican City and Monaco are surrounded by Italy and France, so they benefit from their infrastructure. Nauru was an independent country for several thousand years before the Europeans annexed it, but as a stone age, tribal-based society. Even if the people of Nauru wanted to return to that traditional lifestyle, they can't. The phosphate mining has wrecked too much of their island for that to happen.

[@blizzardBad]

Ever heard of Singapore?

[@thirstyserpent1079]

@@FlintIronstag23 Would Togo fit into that category or the Marshall Islands?

[@danurkresnamurti3598]

@@blizzardBad singapore have geographic advantage. they stand on malaca strait

[@danurkresnamurti3598]

Only if Nauru do what Norway did. They will have the bigest SWF today

[@bobbymainz1160]

Economists and business leaders are voicing concerns at the start of 2023 that the year could be a difficult one. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said that the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates to 6% to fight inflation, higher than the peak level between 5% and 5.5% in 2023 that most Fed officials penciled in after their December meeting. Although I read an article of people that grossed profits up to $500k during this crash, what are the best stocks to buy/short now or put on a watchlist.

[@oneiljerry9460]

Emotionally-charged decisions to sell off large quantities of stocks or other investments now lock in your losses, removing any chance for future growth.

[@stephaniestella213]

A 2022 Northwestern Mutual study found that 75% of U.S. adults admit their financial planning needs improvement. However, only 29% of Americans work with a financial advisor.

[@kimyoung8414]

@Zahair O'Brian Would it be okay if I asked you to recommend this specific advisor or company that you used their services? Seems you've figured it all out.

[@hausklaus7718]

Scam bots😂

[@VivaLaAntifa3]

@@hausklaus7718 Is anyone ever falling for these?

[@maxkennedy8075]

Australia using another distant nation as a prison. They grow up so fast

[@shadowhuntagaming]

Haha, I never thought about it like this before 😂

[@hotman_pt_]

they are legit one of the worst countries nowadays in relation to their domestic relations. They not only straigth up exploit the northern territory, but also prey on the weakness of Timor Leste and Nauru.

[@FlatKitten]

@@hotman_pt_ hoping to see change for the better with Anthony Albanese

[@awf6554]

@@hotman_pt_ Huh? The Northern Territory is part of Australia.

[@gre894]

@@hotman_pt_ Nauru would literally be worthless without this arrangement

[@joshuapatrick682]

This is actually a better lesson in how GDP per capita isn’t the best measuring stick for wealth when talking about a nation with one of the smallest populations and areas on Earth which should be obvious. It’s a great tool when looking at complex economies with tens to hundreds of millions of people…but when looking any 10,000 People stuck in a way of living forced on them by dead assholes.

[@Trucmuch]

It's true that GDP per capita isn’t the best measuring stick for wealth when talking about a nation with a small population. But still. When its GDP per capita was the best in the world, they spend money on luxury sports cars. When it dropped drastically, they spent it on canned food. Sound pretty accurate to me.

[@wilhelmbittrich88]

“dead assholes”? Really? What an ignorant and stupid comment.

[@EvilDickism]

forced? they could have stopped at any time.

[@marquee_tags]

@@EvilDickism ??? Nauru only became an independent country in the 1960s, at which point the writing was very much on the wall.

[@EvilDickism]

@Mark Barbour No, it wasn't. It didn't become the wealthiest until 1976 And didn't really bottom out until the 90s. Don't make excuses for their failures. And it still doesn't disprove my point about them being able to stop at their will

[@neilritson7445]

This is great as an analysis and also because it shows the absurdity of the scoring systems in use by economists and politicians, whatever they are. Many comments reflect this.

[@partya11night20]

The the score makes Nauru look like better than Argentina. Argentina though in a terrible state is realistically only hard reforms and 5-10 years away from being fine.

[@mattpackwood6737]

The Nauru Tower in Honolulu is considered one of the most luxurious condos in Hawaii. It was funded by Nauru phosphate wealth. If still owned by the Nauru Government it should be bringing in a fair amount of revenue. There's also Nauru House in Melbourne. In early 2019, the then under-construction development was purchased by Dexus for a reported $1.4 billion. Not sure if that went to the Nauru Government.

[@fra604]

Minute 10:00, he mentions it

[@Jenvlogs404]

I’m from nearby and the ten percent Chinese are mining the phosphate brutaIIy, during the second phase people don’t even see a penny and trees are gone. The western are experienced at sucking and ones giving power to terror.

[@stuartharrison9944]

@Don't Read My Profile Photo Boring... P**s Off

[@karlanthonymargate7362]

They likewise own the Pacific Star Bldg in Makati, Philippines

[@jeffc1347]

The really sad thing is they probably could have just invested the money into the S&P 500 and all live really nice lives without having to work for the next several generations.

[@xyz-pg3zd]

is it too late? or wait for drop

[@757Bricksquad]

This isn’t even close to being true.

[@Pantsinabucket]

@@xyz-pg3zdall the money is gone. Pissed away on bad investments like a failed airline and hotel.

[@14534]

@@xyz-pg3zdno more phosphate. Yep, too late

[@AlanLamb11]

@@757Bricksquad Not even true for Norway despite having the largest sovreign wealth fund in the world. If Norwegian citizens all stopped working, the fund would be empty in less than 8 years.

[@cookieenthusiast6213]

The irony of Australia using another island as a detention center. I am not judging here, I'm just pointing out the connection.

[@Thetwinmeister]

How the World's Richest Country Lost 90% of its GDP Growth: 9/10

[@victorcode2075]

Hahaha should be -9

[@khalidalali186]

Nauru 🇳🇷 has the unbeatable world record, when it comes to crashing your own economy in less than 20 years.

[@shaydza]

Not true. Go read up on Zimbabwe.

[@AndrewMcFarlane_1]

@@shaydza south Africa rising... I mean sinking

[@chidianyanwu8731]

@@AndrewMcFarlane_1 even in the next 100 years South Africa 🇿🇦 will remain and get even better

[@nikoladd]

Russia in 2022: Hold my vodka!

[@robertwoodpa6463]

US: Hold my beer.

[@andrewjpalla]

Colonization is such a curse. The island is a paradise. If it was settled upon and the inhabitants just started growing food and living off the land, while they probably wouldn't be as rich (given their isolation), they'd probably be pretty well off in comparison to what's actually happened. I never want to hear anyone say colonization is fruitful. Look at this mess.

[@barbiquearea]

"Increased wealth and poor food choices" Interestingly most developed countries have the opposite problem, where most people in the middle or poorer income brackets tend to eat cheap, unhealthy food such as from fast food restaurants.

[@rangergxi]

Arab gulf states and pacific states have the highest obesity. They go all in on those cheeseburgers.

[@euphoriacake1009]

FAST FOOD IS NOT CHEAP. That's a myth. Making sandwiches and the like will usually always be cheaper and healthier

[@Demmrir]

@@euphoriacake1009 Not if you don't have a market that you can walk to that sells the ingredients you need and the free time to cook anything more complex. Time is a luxury. Travel is a luxury. And many places have a McDonalds on the block but the closest market is miles away.

[@iandakariann]

They weren't really rich. They were basically forced to destroy their country and once 'independent ' forced to do the same work as they had no means to improve themselves as their natural resources had been destroyed by then. A farming slave that, once free, ends up having to farm the same land or starve. Without good access to real food they turned to food that had the highest energy for the least income, which is fast food. When they tried to expand into other economies, they were exploited or scammed due to lack of knowledge, ignorance, or bad actors. Eventually, the money ran out and they were left with nothing. That's effectively what happens to the lower classes in developed nations, especially ones that start off in colonized or enslaved populations. Wealth is more than just having access to money. It's access to resources and opportunities, to high quality education that brings skills you can utilize and food. They didn't have that. So they are just like the poor eating from McDonald's, even if their numbers claimed otherwise.

[@ianyapxw]

@@euphoriacake1009 you’re completely right, it’s partially cultural. In Singapore people believe that cheap food is healthy food. Poor people eat lots of rice, eggs, bean sprouts, leafy vegetables, tofu and carrots, either boiled or stir fried with garlic. Much much cheaper than a cheeseburger, even a $2 cheeseburger.

[@s0516122]

I think it would be useful to point out the parallels between the reliance on the resource wealth of Nauru and that of Australia.

[@jordansmith4040]

I think the big difference is Australia has continental levels of raw resources, whereas this island in question is just a small island.

[@Aussie-boi]

If only we had a sovereign wealth fund :( most of the profits like Nauru end up overseas

[@s0516122]

@@Aussie-boi Totally agree.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

All resoruces are ultimately natural resources and human labor

[@morganstanley6356]

Well Naura got conned by australian financial advisors no doubt given that this was the 1970s. Australia viewed all non white people as inferior.

[@Kilen_BE]

That was Interesting, completely unaware of the history of Naru. Sad story indeed, good point is it can only go better after that. Thx for sharing

[@FranckMartin]

Pity the footage and illustrations have mostly nothing to do with Nauru. I went there many times, during their low days. I helped them manage themselves their ccTLD, may be at the time one of their biggest source of revenue, and that was not much. So many stories. Once they had to find me a room in the hotel because it was full of personnel for the detention camps…

[@ShaudaySmith]

Yeah, his videos are pretty much entirely stock footage, and i would imagine there ain't many videographers going to Nauru to help with that passive income.

[@UrbanLyfeGH]

Can u help me clarify the predominant complexion of these people

[@linusa2996]

@@UrbanLyfeGH They are related to the natives of Hawaii, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Madagascar, Borneo, Indonesia and points between.

[@thegoldenseed]

That obese guy on bike is definitely from Malaysia. I immediately recognized the BAC logo on the signboard. Then only I noticed the number plate and the surrounding. It's definitely Malaysia.

[@kabtak252]

@@UrbanLyfeGH dude they are brown... Like 75 percent of this world...lol

[@marksinclair701]

I was wondering why Brazil was so low, but I think there is an error in the average for Brazil. Brazil = (9+5+3+3+6)/5 = 26/5 = 5.2 Checking, Nauru = (1+5+3+9+2)/5 = 20/5 = 4.0 So yeah, Brazil, not quite as bad as Nauru, phew!

[@leifc.6045]

And this is what happened when the gov gives out free money. Purchasing value crashes hard.

[@EchoingHell]

@@leifc.6045 Yes and no. If money supply increases but the supply of goods/services matches it, then the ratio stays the same. Things get funky when one or the other deviate to much. 🌶️

[@nishant54]

@@EchoingHell Only yes everywhere.

[@SineN0mine3]

@@nishant54 its quite rare in recent times, but limited money supply is as bad for the economy as excess surplus.

[@nishant54]

@@SineN0mine3 Nope limited money is far better than excess. It creates the fair price.

[@AI_ART_LIBRARY]

Let it be a example for all of us to understand that the planet earth is just a big Nauru. 🙈🍀 once the resources are gone, they are gone for good, the oil is the main resource we are spending the same way Nauru used his main natural resource. We need to focus as Individuals to waste as little as possible and be active to support ways of life and laws that are sustainable.

[@wolfrainexxx]

Yeah, we should be strip mining the Congo & Brazil for Cobalt instead. We need renewables now.

[@c-w-h]

We have fusion. Still a couple decades away from being. But they only introduced the truth when they have control. They plan to depopulate the 1st world countries.

[@c-w-h]

@zjg4gcvn it was just announced a couple weeka ago. Go learn.

[@c-w-h]

@zjg4gcvn then why did they say that they had a net gain and not a net loss of power. Then you did not read or watch the same thing. Its not going to instantly change anything. But in time, we will see. Could be propaganda. But if its true. Things could change on 20 years.

[@PranayPratyush]

Did he just say "What he lacks in size more than makes up for in economic lessons"? That has to be one of the sickest country burns.

[@DiscoFang]

Second only to dedicating a video to a country but completely mispronouncing the country's name.

[@andrewheng5176]

I think a lot of remote island-based societies share more or less the same struggles, Hawaii isn't self-sustaining and is also quite reliant on imports from the mainland; thus making it extremely difficult for the locals as well. Compound that with the high prices that are typically associated with popular tourist hotspots, the prices are just too much of a burden for locals. But the interesting element here is Nauru's once strategic resource, although I doubt even the taxes and profits earned there would've been enough to kick-start a new means of revenue for the government.

[@maruku4445]

I STILL think that if the people in Nauru want to make any money, they could always enter Japanese sumo wrestling.

[@leonardhalstead8810]

For your information the Nauruans are considered the strongest people in the world per capita. I think that was an insinuation on your part. Lucky you are just a keyboard molester somewhere far from Nauru as any Nauruan man could tear you apart like a rag doll.

[@maruku4445]

@@leonardhalstead8810 They probably can, but I betcha you're not Nauruan and probably can't do the same. Who's the real keyboard molester? You, not me.

[@editedforprivacy207]

Phosphate compounds are also very useful in the production of both high and low explosives.

[@123shotas]

I wonder if the Russian military knows about that 🤣 Heard wood is better than C4

[@victorcode2075]

Also fertiliser

[@henrikrolfsen584]

In the modern world, no country is an island. Neru was part of the global economy, and the exploitation of its rich phosphates was a natural occurance.

[@jono_cc2258]

So what you're saying is if Scotland was to become independent they should put some refugee detention centres on an island or two and undercut Nauru to avoid the trap of resource curse?

[@thegorn]

And force them to eat haggis

[@DirkusTurkess]

I think living in Scotland would be deterence enough.

[@manhoosnick]

@@thegorn prison ok, but haggis !! This is human rights abuse

[@Promethalus]

I volunteer as guard, I love the Scottish Isles!

[@tonybrowneyed8277]

@@thegorn in the middle of the north sea. if i was a prisoner there, i would ask for transfer to nauru.

[@johnl.7754]

Wonder if they could have developed the island into a luxury seaside destination when they were rich

[@asahearts1]

Too desolate by that point.

[@aerime]

Probably need billions of dollars in investments. Dont think they have the money for it.

[@TuckyAndrei1]

They could probably become a tax heaven + norwegian oil fund like ee suggested

[@noel7777noel]

Never once did this video mention "predictions of a paying customer" as a business plan. But did mention how the rich run their cons. And the rich who game the system know nothing about pouncing on a mouse. I love the parenting technique of a common house cat. First, The mother takes a dead mouse to her kittens. Like communist. To get them used to the taste. Second, [when the kitchens are a little older] takes a unharmed mouse to her kittens for practice. If the kitten doesn't ponce correctly, the mouse runs off, and the kitten goes hungry. Like the stupid rich people not building homes for the working-class to own, instead of building rental apartments for the working-class to rent. Now. Rich people are the con men who have gamed the banking system, and that's going to be your paying customers? The people that bankrupted the island in the first place. You want to pamper the people who stole the resources in the first place as a paying customer. The people who built apartment buildings for the working-class to rent. My state of Florida didn't embrace the Everglades as a fishing capital of the world. They did a war on water and stopped the natural flow of the water of the Everglades. Bill Clinton signed legislation to restore the Everglades. The Everglades project never happened. They took the land for farming. The Everglades is this natural water filter system. To filter farming run off. Farms produce pollution and the Everglades filters that run off. Do you understand, they took out the filter that the farms need to make way for the farms. A catch-22. Instead of making it the fishing capital of the world.

[@hotman_pt_]

they could just give up their independence, which isn't gonna happen

[@deveshchauhan8380]

When other channels promote their other videos in the middle of the current video, I skip 5 seconds. But at Economics Explained, I am eagerly waiting and add them to watch later.

[@MrGreen-dp4oz]

I'ma call bs. Some one or group made a killing exploiting this island of it's resources. Took everything and left

[@serpentine1983]

exactly.. And probably the politicians took all the tax money for themselves instead of investing it in reforestation and tourist infrastructure among other things. Probably a industry or two based on services (like ARM or electronics design for example) because it would be hard in such a small country to have industries that create stuff. So they have to focus on services and tourism.

[@princessmarlena1359]

@@serpentine1983 agreed

[@andrewwilliams7390]

I hope you continue to cover more small economies

[@jdi801]

Interesting comparison is Denmark and Norway. Comparable oil reserves. Norway has the world's biggest investment fund, Denmark has debt.

[@aeoteng]

So, I'm a Naurusian now (and not Nauruan anymore) I guess 🤷‍♂️. Good vid with straightforward criticism.

[@prashanthb4565]

Hey man.. how's the world today like in Nauru?

[@Dan2yefa]

@@prashanthb4565 Naruto?

[@labboc]

You know it's not a feel-good video when "mass drownings" is mentioned in passing...

[@adg5391]

Waiting for UK !❤️Hate from India🇮🇳

[@baringtonia]

Kept saying NAIRU instead of Nauru….true economist 😂

[@dululjahma6609]

wiki-nomist

[@adamik2271]

He’s Australian lol

[@jubmelahtes]

Aistralia

[@robman2095]

@@adamik2271 i have never heard it pronounced like he does in australia

[@DiscoFang]

Yeah that pronunciation is just flat out lazy and inept. You'd think it a fundamental of making a country the subject of a video. Nayru????

[@jewi71]

Interesting video! I have not known that Nauru was the richest country 50 years ago because of phosphate. But the ranking at the end makes no sense. Either you want compare economies by size or by strength. In the first case you can give points for GDP, in the second case only for GDP per capita. And to praise Nauru for 7% growth, if this is based on refugee camp financed by Australia, is also mindless.

[@Alright397]

Zee heeppopotamoose, he is not born saying, "Cool beans. I am a heeppo." No way, Joesay. So he try to paint zee stripe on him to be like zee zebra, but he fool no one. Then he try to put zee spot on zee skin to be like the leopard, but everyboody know he is a heeppo. So, at certain point, he look himself in zee mirror and he just say, "Hey. I am a heeppopotamoose and zere is nothing I can do about it." As soon as he accepts zis, he live life happy. Happy as a heeppo. You understand zis

[@Ice_Karma]

For next time, Nauru is pronounced "nah-OO-roo" or "NOW-roo", and the demonym is "Nauruan".

[@thomasjohnson2862]

Must have been tense for Argentinian viewers watching while EE was announcing Nauru’s ratings, to see if somebody would rank below them. Perhaps they’ll request EE to put North Korea or Afghanistan on the leaderboard?

[@xehpuk]

I think Argentina was quite rich once, at least top 10 GDP per capita then something went wrong. Populist politicians probably. Right or left I did not fully understand, probably doesn't matter once on decline corruption will make sure it continues down.

[@JosePineda-cy6om]

Argentina was the richest country on Earth, when measured on GDP per capita, in 1900. Or in the top 10, if measured in absolute numbers. And yes, almost a century of populism (mostly left wing gov'ts, but the right wing military dictators weren't much better stewards of the economy) destroyed all that wealth

[@rosshilton]

I worked as an advisor to Nauru. This video has missed out a lot of things, especially the miss- advice by a series of economic cowboys (some of who should have known better and others who were just criminals). It also misses the cultural challenges. I was once chased by a man in his underpants, waving a machete. Apparently I had “got too close to his garden”. Why? The people don’t trust banks and bury money in jars in the garden. This is the answer to one of the mysteries - where did all of the money in the island go after the banks closed? It was taken and buried. You also missed the fact that when it failed the bank left its vault open and everyone stole the money. There is still a fortune in phosphate left on the island, and it is still mined an exported.

[@Zero.X]

UUF

[@rosshilton]

@@Zero.X Isn’t UUF some sort of mixed martial arts thing?

[@stephenc2481]

it is sad to see that rich countries turn poor. it takes a mindset to build wealth. Countries can be doomed to bad financial skills, like individuals. On top of that, there is always greed from politicians, standing in the way.

[@eulyer3722]

Dude trust me

[@ekx5120]

I don't think they're still published, but I highly recommend reading Maarten J. Troost, he spent a number of years in the Pacific and lived with the locals on Vanuatu and I can't remember where else. The reliance on outside help is incredible, they have issues with obesity and alcoholism and gambling in some nations. They can't grow anything that would sustain the local population because some parts have been transformed into resorts and tourist attractions for wealthy Westerners. They have issues with plastic and cans polluting some bays and creeks, and the remoteness of some of the smallest inhabited islands makes it hard to get access to help and healthcare during hurricanes/typhoons. Oh hi! Let me colonise your island, strip natural resources, give it back to you when we done, oh and here's your membership to capitalism and now you're technically poor. YOU NEED ME.

[@henrypucci2738]

It seems you don't know the difference between capitalism and imperialism.

[@kevinw2592]

@@henrypucci2738 one comes from a gun, one from a banker. Same result.

[@marceelino]

lol

[@Т1000-м1и]

My man is doing the diversification of content into lighter and more specific niche topics. Very few get it right, there's a bright future ahead!

[@kazj1728]

Nauru is like Gulf countries set to 2x-3x fast forward, complete with widespread obesity and laughable infrastructure (Burj Khalifa relies on septic holding tanks that need to be pumped and trucked to the treatment plant). Only difference is the Gulf Royals will abscond to Europe with their counties’ wealth, if they manage to escape Arab Spring 2.0.

[@monangagustian3564]

Just ignore the fact that until 1968 Nauru was exploited by European colonists (Germany, Australia) and Japan during WW2. When they got Independence, 1/3 of the land already barren of forest and valuable minerals.

[@-glitch-8195]

Exactly. Gulf countries are extremely underdeveloped considering they've had wealth for decades. Only the city centers are developed. You can pull it up on google maps. The sidewalks are not paved, the asphalt is not even. But they are worried about competing on a global stage. They have a major issue regarding mismanagement of funds and it will eventually catch up to them. Diversification is not easy to do. Their leadership makes it sound so easy, but most countries cannot diversify due to a variety of factors. On top of that, there is a massive wealth gap. The people in those countries are not rich at all. They are all on government assistance.

[@kazj1728]

@@-glitch-8195 The biggest lie the Royals make is that it’s in their interest to help the country’s citizens. It is not. They keep the citizens fat and entertained just enough to not question anything, so the Royals can stash away as much money as Western oil companies will allow them to, so when the 💩 hits the fan they can be out of there. Why else would Royals be such big customers of expensive easily transportable stores of wealth like artwork?

[@kazj1728]

@@-glitch-8195 Fun fact to your point: Saudi is a big fossil fuel producer, right? Guess what most Saudis use in their kitchens to cook? 20lb Propane Canisters, like for outdoor grills, but inside houses. If the biggest oil producer doesn’t even bother to run gas lines to residential communities, you can’t believe these ridiculous infrastructure projects are meant to help people. They’re just paying off foreign companies so they can keep up relations for a smooth entry to their foreign villas. If you have $100 billion, it’s better to pay off $90 billion to ensure you’re alive to enjoy your $10 billion; rather than trying to keep all that money yourself and end up at the mercy of your citizens when they eventually revolt.

[@jerodwolf5582]

So, literally, Nauru is the Lorax town, where they mined the most valuable resource until it was gone, and then realized that they destroyed everything for the sake of greed

[@leonardhalstead8810]

The only thing is that the people who mined it what they didn't own didn't care. The colonialist just packed up and left the Island. The most shameful thing when they left was charge the owners of the country to pay to take over what was left of the phosphate.

[@hereLiesThisTroper]

Ok this is weird. Some days ago, a random thought came to my mind thinking about whatever happened to Nauru after the pandemic? And voila! A new video about Nauru. I must be a psychic.

[@jonjimihendrix]

Great video! That blue line on the Growth graph js really hard to see. A higher-contrast color would be appreciated by aging eyes. Thanks, keep up the good and informative work!

[@julesv8664]

The main problem of a police chief not fitting behind the wheel of his new lamborghini is NOT obesity... it's how does a police chief afford a new lamborghini !

[@jan_Masewin]

I applaud the creativity of this video, I don't think I've heard Nauru pronounced as nay-roo before

[@TheCrunchifiedOne]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this

[@dylanadams1455]

because Straya

[@hilestoby2628]

Nauru has to import 90% of their food due to the exhaustion of phosphorus in the top soil. The soil in the past was described as one of the richest and offered subsistence farming. Most of the food imported today is processed as said in the video because of cheapness, but has increased obesity rates to more than 90 percent for both genders.

[@Hungabrigoo]

While processed food is certainly a huge health problem, obesity itself can be easily helped by an ancient technique called "eating less".

[@leonardhalstead8810]

Yes Nauru imports most of its commodities, maybe 90 percent is correct, The top soil is not phosphate it is a very rich black soil which is very rich in properties for farming. Phosphate is under this top soil and it can be dug up to sometimes more than 50 ft deep The Phosphate itself is not good for growing anything. It only gains its amazing plant growing properties when processed and chemically mixed with other elements and it becomes super phosphate.

[@andrewayers135]

@@leonardhalstead8810 the rich black soil is a very minor area on the island known as topside, whereas the fringe where everyone lives, is mostly crushed coral

[@leonardhalstead8810]

@@andrewayers135 Andrew are you a Nauruan and do you live on the Island ? Black top soil is a layer of rich soil found around most of the Island not just topside.. There is no natural crushed coral anywhere on Nauru except where it was laid down by people who wanted crushed soil covering the black soil around their dwellings. Crushed soil is just that it is crushed soil, crushed by heavy machinery.

[@damp2269]

@@Hungabrigoo nah, eating less barely slows obesity if all you have available is trash... at some point you have to eat.

[@mikmik9034]

What is really important, is: How many Trans-people are there, why is the government resisting Trans-people and the LGBTQ whatever? Have all the Republicans been exiled? How many immigrants have entered the country? Did they pay reparations yet?

[@asahearts1]

So Nauru 🇳🇷 is the Australia 🇦🇺 of Australia 🇦🇺.

[@totallyjerd1751]

Nah that's Tasmania

[@meandyouagainstthealgorith5787]

The Southwest US used to have the greatest yield of cotton per acre than anywhere in the world. Farmers grew pecans, oranges, lettuce, dates. Today, there is no water for agriculture. The southwest may be the next Nauru.

[@multilangcoder8723]

Though the fact it is part of the US and its sheer population(and the fact it isn't as reliant on those resources like Nauru was)will definitely prevent it from getting close to the scale Nauru fell. Maybe like a 40% fall at most, but definitely not 90%.

[@SaltyMinorcan]

@@multilangcoder8723 yes but regarding population, we need to curb it imho.

[@nelsonbaker3247]

How can I possibly approach your Investment Professional Ms Shirley Morgan?

[@krishnadavansh9491]

@@SaltyMinorcan I'm currently earning $13,000 a week. God bless Morgan and his platforms, she have been a blessing to my family.

[@obviouslymatt6452]

there is no water for agriculture? isn’t california sometimes called the bread basket of the world?

[@benjaminmugema6400]

And kids, this is why Mauritius and Panama choose to be havens for thieves and the mafia. Skilling is key.

[@junioroteng6266]

Can you do an African nation next (ideally one of the west African countries). Ghana for instance has seen an influx of international economic activities and I would love to see your view on Ghana’s economy.

[@chavezchavo]

*Explains obesity while showing footage of obesity of Malaysia* Well, my home country has probably the highest index of obesity within SEA countries. Good video about Nauru's natural resources.

[@hollysmith7828]

I doubt there’s much stock footage of obesity in Nauru…

[@Dont-Watch-My-Vids-U-Regret-it]

Who else thinks Economics explained should start talking about companies?

[@multilangcoder8723]

He should also do regions of countries that have quite different economies from the rest of their country.

[@Jay_Johnson]

no

[@barbiquearea]

@@multilangcoder8723 Haven't they already done that with certain states in the US such as Texas and California?

[@ianshaver8954]

Texas and California have country scale economies and semi independent governments.

[@multilangcoder8723]

@@barbiquearea Really just a few big US states only and thats it though.

[@noticedruid4985]

I think one of the biggest things to come to light is that Naaru is not capable of being independent, especially due to the lack of the island being capable of being self sufficient.

[@leonardhalstead8810]

Nauru 's phosphate was 70 percent dug out by the colonialists before Nauru became independent. So the damage was 70 percent already done by foreign powers. Nauru's 'richest in GDP per capita' status came after Nauru gained their independence not before, so your analysis is wrong. Nauru lost its wealth through later governments who brought in scrupulous western advisers that gave wrong advice and profited from it. If Nauru never gained independence from the colonial powers who did not pay Nauruans a correct and fair price for their phosphate in the first place and so when the phosphate had exhausted, do you think the Nauruans would be in a better state today ? I don't think so.

[@Szcza04]

What happens when the Earth runs out of finite resources. This is the future for us all.

[@shancunma6001]

That’s why we need more adoption to renewable energy.

[@fatboyRAY24]

Look up. Asteroid mining is the future.

[@NewPaulActs17]

@@shancunma6001 rare earth elements are rare for a reason.

[@philpottkentucky4802]

@@fatboyRAY24 The Expanse is just goofy science fiction, dude lol

[@hankhillsnrrwurethra]

Nauru's first Olympics was in 1996. I know because I have a pin from then that says, "Nauru's First Olympics".

[@ArndBrugman]

I don't understand why anyone would call this robbery a form of failing economy...

[@StrumVogel]

Kinda feel like the “Lottery Winner” curse.

[@tallest4eva]

Not really. For most of their history, the Nauruans had NO say in their resources because they were colonized by Germany, Japan then Australia. By the time they got control of their own land, most of their island was ALREADY destroyed by over-exploitation with the topsoil removed and no agriculture possible. The island is yet another victim of Europe's actions in the last couple of centuries!

[@heretical_cuttlefish]

*sees title* It's Nauru isnt it? "This is the island republic of Nauru" Called it

[@builder_dahomey]

Argentina is ranked lower than a trainwreck of a country that is turned into a detention camp. Lol.

[@t0n0k0]

I have avoided this title since it came out , because it reminds me of the book "The Economic Hitman" What are we all doing? I ask myself.

[@stormix12]

Hey mate awesome job. Can you make the economy of Colombia 🇨🇴? Thanks!

[@jerome4445]

Didn't this one dumb you down enough?

[@stormix12]

@@jerome4445 Want to see how doom my country is :(

[@jerome4445]

@@stormix12 Any video from this channel will only serve to dumb you down ! Done replying

[@Garlic2111]

@@jerome4445 care to elaborate?

[@Lazy_Tim]

@@jerome4445 Why are you here then?

[@shieldphaser]

Honestly, there are significant parallels to be drawn between collapses like these and people who win big in the lottery only to spend way too much and end up dead broke. It's not steady income, it's a glorified cash injection.

[@danurkresnamurti3598]

Only if Nauru do what Norway did. They will have the bigest SWF today

[@happyelephant5384]

Success is when your penal colony sets up own penal colony

[@streamofthesky]

Its economy is entirely reliant on being a penal colony for Australia and it still gets a 9/10 for growth. Bro...

[@Kevinf0212]

A very interesting look at Nauru. I remember when Nauru used to own the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, one of the most exclusive hotels in Melbourne at the time. Even the Beatles stayed there. The only thing that marred it was the glossing over of the Tampa affair. The MV Tampa picked up the refugees who had left from Indonesia to Australia. When the MV Tampa picked them up, Indonesia had asked for them to be dropped at Merak ferry port. The refugees refused to go there and told the captain to go to Christmas Island instead and threatened to jump overboard or riot if he didn't. Technically, this is a hijacking. An Australian Navy boat actually delivered them to Nauru.

[@MsJubjubbird]

It was right before the federal election. John Howard knew he was onto a winner by refusing them entry

[@danielmorris7648]

"Technically" they were murderous criminals not refugees they weren't fleeing they were invading

[@fredpuntdroad8701]

"and threatened to jump overboard" We Europeans suffer from the same lack of a "This doesn't sound like a problem. Illegals, by all means carry out your threat" mentality in response to that sort of stuff. 😆

[@karlkorell8653]

Can you do a video about Estonian economy please.

[@FrithonaHrududu02127]

I found a book u got as a gift in like 84, ive been a geography nerd since i was a kid, its a NG countries of the world book. The nauru section is depressing,knowing what we know because its talking about how wealthy they are, i really wish it was a choose youre own adventure book

[@chefnyc]

How did they get 2/10 for industry? How badly do you have to screw up to get 1/10?

[@alex_zetsu]

If agriculture counts as "industry," they still haven't _completely_ lost since there is some arable land to support maybe 1/30 of its permanent population.

[@Petrico94]

Would you attempt a top 10 worst economies to round out the bottom of the list? A lot of struggling economies or low GDP countries might not hit the news often so it's a little depressing to see Argentina. Maybe add something like pre-industrial Europe since economies do change and it'd be helpful to have reference points based on specific time periods.

[@rgrrolfgruberrezensionen3851]

Between 2014 and 2015 I tried to work at Nauru. No chance they dont want swiss workers as I found out.. stay healthy! ❤❤❤

[@nathanseper8738]

Basically it was a nation of lottery winners that didn’t know how to manage their wealth.

[@shancunma6001]

poor use of god given leverage.

[@nathanseper8738]

@@shancunma6001 Yep. Nauru could've done good things.

[@99certain45]

With all of its useless flat land in the middle of the Pacific, Nauru should make itself into an airline hub.

[@JoeKlunder1]

What is their biggest challenge now? Getting the population healthier? More job skills? Restoring agriculture?

[@eusebioraulucsantos9139]

Even Nauru is placed higher than Argentina, lol

[@aadilbaksh710]

Hey would love to hear about Guyana. ExxonMobils newest milking cow. We just got oil rich and I wonder if we have a chance to escape the resource curse

[@walli6388]

First point to introduce: Death sentence for corruption

[@SDW3-6-9]

Corruption and Nepotism lead to lack of meritocracy..so it leads to a downfall in time apart from the predatory neo-colonists like Chynaa and Big Oil.

[@deepblue3682]

Go the norway way

[@just_a_curious_thinker]

Norway is the best way

[@just_a_curious_thinker]

@The Adviser Bot spammers🤡are everywhere

[@nickjgreen8923]

I’ve worked there. This video contains absolutely no real footage but is vaguely accurate

[@vermasean]

Happy Holidays EE Team! 👋 🌲

[@playlist9389]

Thank you. It would be interesting to watch a video about Baltic states too.

[@janni7439]

Wasn't there a story about capitalism where a missionary drove a native to expand in order to become richer, while that person kept asking: why? I'm doing fine, aren't I? And here you can see the result.

[@ribbonrides886]

So, how to avoid Nauru's fate in two steps: 1. Don't get colonized by other countries who will steal things from you. 2. Profit

[@adam19890911]

Nauru, the Benjamin Button of Australia, first mining island then prison.

[@lien-hard]

Imagine trying to flee violence in Afghanistan, dreaming of a free life in Europe or maybe another western country, almost drowning in the ocean, getting rescued by a Norwegian ship to get brought to a detention center on an island living mainly off this.

[@robertb6889]

Imagine Argentina losing to Nauru on the leaderboard…

[@SelfProclaimedEmperor]

Argentina's economy is a mess

[@philpottkentucky4802]

Argentina was literally the 10th wealthiest country in the world in the 1920s, but political corruption and scumbag elites ruined the economy.

[@AndyBHome]

The narrator's pronunciation of Nauru is driving me insane. There's no way, no possible way that NAYroo is a reasonable pronunciation of n a u r u. Is it not NOWroo? or NAWroo, or nowROO, or SOMETHING that includes that first U in the pronunciation?

[@firefox39693]

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Wyoming, West Virginia, and Russia all remind me of Nauru.

[@I.amthatrealJuan]

A prime example of resource curse indeed

[@barbiquearea]

Just out of curiosity does Nauru not have any fishermen? Surely being an island nation means they can feed its population with seafood, which can be a healthy option. So what is wrong with its fishing industry (assuming they have one at all)?

[@tysonwastaken]

96% of the people there are morbidly obese because of some gene

[@Clluthu]

Why would you fish, or grow your food if you can just buy it? The problem isn't feeding their people.

[@dane1382]

mining operations produce pollution, which probably decimated the ocean ecosystems around nauru almost as much as the land ecosystems on it.

[@ronnelacido1711]

Nauru had it easy during their boom times they never bothered thinking about alternatives and their future, that nothing lasts forever.

[@iandakariann]

@@oenjielsvansoekamadjoe7405 they can't even do that. The mining decimated their land.

[@fabiopinna]

"How the World's Richest Country Lost 90% of its GDP" -> Greed, the answer is greed.

[@sierraecho884]

How to bankrupt a country--> Germany: Hold my beer xD