Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Striking oil or discovering diamonds should be a blessing for a country, but history suggests

otherwise.

We look beyond basic economics to discover why so many resource-rich African countries

remain persistently underdeveloped.

And for all the melting pot options among American restaurants, you won't find many native

American restaurants.

A new generation of chefs is changing that.

On the menu, expect blue corn, bison, and when the licensing is figured out, beavers.

But first, today lawmakers in Italy are carrying out the first daily ballot to determine the

country's next president.

Rumors abound that the frontrunner is Mario Draghi, currently Italy's prime minister,

and a pretty successful one.

He's overseen a stellar vaccine rollout and serious reforms that have sparked much-native

investment.

Mr. Draghi's steady hand has had a calming influence on a famously fractious political

landscape, but his potential move into a very different roll might change that.

Mario Draghi is a former president of the European Central Bank, where he earned the title

of Super Mario because of his perceived role in the rescue of the Europe, the height of

the Euro crisis.

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