Such plans work in societies with rule of law, and fail miserably in societies that are clan based and tribal. A quarter of Afghanistan's GDP may go to bribes and shakedowns. A more honest description from NPR would be that historically, mineral wealth when controlled by deeply corrupt governments like Afghanistan's, is primarily used for graft and nepotism, benefiting a few elites in government and industry while funding the oppression of everyone else.
In other words, Afghanistan is more like Nigeria than Norway.
This thread is for the discussion of Less Wrong topics that have not appeared in recent posts. If a discussion gets unwieldy, celebrate by turning it into a top-level post.