ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a background on the overall economic and social situation of industrialists and the vulnerability that clearly surfaced when the oil boom entered its downswing. But since any consideration of the economic situation of industrialists cannot ignore state policies affecting industry, it examines the state's intervention in the market and the large part it has played in the industrialists' economic situation. The chapter provides the industrialists' market situation as importers of a whole range of necessary industrial inputs—particularly machinery and raw materials. It explores the business situation of industrialists, and basic sociological data on the industrialists who were interviewed during spring 1984. The resources generated by oil exports, foreign lending, and state intervention, and the actions of industrialists as a group constitute the circumstances under which certain individuals have become involved in industrial activity, make their investment decisions, and earn their profits.
