Dear Historians of Economics,

Here at the Office of the Chief Economist of the Latin America and 
Caribbean Region of the World Bank we are about to embark on a year 
long project studying the role of (primary) commodities in Latin 
America. As part of that project, we want to familiarize ourselves 
with the history of economic thought about the role commodities in 
economic development. Paradigms like Dependency Theory, Enclave 
Economies, the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis, Dutch Disease, Import 
Substitution, and the Resource Curse come to mind.

Could anyone perhaps point us to books or journal articles that give 
a good overview and discuss the development of the thinking in the 
literature? If I am not mistaken, even Adam Smith had particular 
thoughts on the subject!

We would be very grateful for any suggestions you may have.

Best regards,

Felix Vardy