The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online

This article outlines the ‘Dutch disease’, the fear of de-industrialization first seen in the Netherlands in the wake of the appreciation of the Dutch guilder following the discovery of natural gas deposits in the North Sea around 1960. It considers its symptoms, and asks whether it is indeed a ‘disease’ with negative economic implications. It also briefly reviews some cases of Dutch disease, and the case of Norway, which appears to have successfully avoided it.