Economics

Following the discovery of oil, Libya developed into a classic example of a rentier

state, one in which the economic rent derived from the sale of a single resource,

often hydrocarbons, enables the state to act as the distributor of this rent in the

form of education, housing, and other social services. In turn, this enables the

state to command political allegiance and compliance from its citizens. Despite

efforts by the revolutionary government to lessen the nation’s reliance on the

income from the sale of hydrocarbons, Libya after four decades of revolutionary

experimentation remains a rentier state.