Saudi Arabia is looking to transition away from oil as its main income generator.
Saudi Arabians are anticipating with hope, doubt and worry the release this week of a government plan to liberate the kingdom from its reliance on oil, which could solve deep-rooted problems but bring economic pain.
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 30-year-old son of King Salman, is to announce on Monday his “Saudi Vision 2030”, which is expected to set goals for the next 15 years and a broad policy agenda to reach them, official sources say.
Economic details of the vision, a package of state budget reforms, regulatory changes and policy initiatives for the next five years known as the “National Transformation Plan”, are expected to be released four to six weeks later.
Reform drives have come and gone in Saudi Arabia several times in the past few decades with only modest results. The kingdom remains dangerously dependent on oil exports and low global prices created a state budget deficit of nearly $100 billion in 2015, emphasizing the need for change.
Well it is not just oil. The Saudis export jihad says PBS. Maybe that does not work as well as it used to in this age.
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16 responses to “Saudi Arabia Wants To Get Off Oil”
Before oil the Saudis were the descendants of dessert bandits and Bedouin. A society built on slavery and looting living in the ruins of the previous civilization. IQ depressed inbred cousin-marrying camel humpers and goat shaggers. They have no art, no music, no literature and no culture. What can they do without oil, try to corner the world houmus market?
Dessert? Now I’m hungry.
So what are they going to sell then?
As Man Mountain said above, they’ve got nothing else that’s worth anything, and they’re a pack of murderous liars, thieves and bandits that can’t be trusted.
Is there a market for sand?
I’ts not even good sand, it’s 50% goat poop, most of it was fertile land thousands of years ago. What it isn’t is anything like pure quartz beach sand. Somebody once suggested they could sell sand to the semiconductor industry for turning it into silicon wafers. Besides being no good for that to start with my friends in the industry estimated maybe 30,000 tons of silicon a year, one cargo ship load.
They plan to industrialize. Or maybe agriculture. In either case they are going to have to radically change their religion – good luck with that.
“In either case they are going to have to radically change their religion”
Indeed they are, starting with their young men, who believe they should rule all without ever doing a thing except being born in the correct culture.
They can’t make a profit exporting jihad. Maybe a line of jihad-themed accessories.
Jihad T shirts, bar mats, scarves, designer burkas, suicide belts by Dolce and Gabbana, the possibilities are endless.
They need to have their religion radically changed for them.
Many industrial products, plastics and fertilizers for example, start with petroleum as a base. If the Soddies weren’t such complete morons they could go into production. These are people who can’t mop a floor or tighten a bolt without a Filipino servant/slave to do it for them.
Some of the opinions above are pretty harsh, and worst, disconnected with reality.
Certainly the Saudi social, political, and economic systems need reform but let me assure you, there are PLENTY of smart Arabs.
Look at the UAE. Their GDP is only about 50% dependent on oil and natural gas and that’s shrinking. They have made Dubai and Abu Dhabi international winter tourist destinations and regional commercial hubs. Very tolerant too. Not perfect by any means but a template for other Arab petrostates.
Before oil the Saudis were the descendants of dessert bandits and Bedouin. A society built on slavery and looting living in the ruins of the previous civilization. IQ depressed inbred cousin-marrying camel humpers and goat shaggers
My uncle worked in education testing. I recall him saying one time that Bedouins tested very well in IQ. Don’t know how that is documented, but that is what I recall his saying.
The Saudis will have to undergo a radical cultural change to transition from an oil rentier society to a society where oil is only one of many income generators. Many Saudis do not work, courtesy of receiving oil rentier income. Saudis tend to scorn the foreigners who do the work in Saudi Arabia.
While many Saudis, to judge by their behavior abroad, are anything but devout, the ruling Saudis have made a devil’s pact with the Wahabi priesthood.
Can Saudi Arabia make such a transition? I have my doubts, but acknowledge that there are Saudis who are not blind to the shortcomings in their society.
Dubai is home to $15,000 a night hotels and no sewage system, they have to truck it out. That lack of basic infrastructure doesn’t sound like the foundation for a long-running vibrant economy.
See Steve Sailer or Greg Cochran for data on the IQ depression from cousin marriage inbreeding. It’s about 1 standard deviation, 15 points. That’s not to say that there won’t be any brilliant arabs, just fewer.
MMM,
Not just fewer high IQ people, a LOT fewer per capita.
It is estimated that to keep a modern civilization running you need about 40% with an IQ above 106 (American standard for IQ) if you don’t have that you have to import help. There are limits to that. Unless you have money to burn.
Burning money is what stupid people do. Instead of building infrastructure the Saudis wasted it on trashy luxuries, madrassas and mosques.
Falling down the slippery slope of the bell curve…
Dovetails into my theory of why managers in small companies are such dolts, feebs and dimwits. I’ve seen statistics that claim it takes an IQ above 130 to be a successful manager. That’s 2 sigmas above an average of 100, about 1 in 3000. In other words there aren’t all that many to go around. And someone who meets the threshold will be just as effective at a large company as at a small one. So, all the good managers are sucked up by the large companies where they can earn vastly larger salaries. Small companies get the dregs.
MMM,
If the IQ standard is 85 then .15% will be 130 or above. 8.1% will be 106 or above.
If they had done this 30-35 years ago, it would have made sense. They would have had the oil income to invest in industry and could have made a transition. Assuming they could have solved the other issues people mentioned.
Now it is too late. They are going to be broke in about 3 years. They just can’t do it.
Someone mentioned that the sand is no good for semi-conductors. It is not even good for concrete. Something about the grains being rounded instead of cubical. the roundness keeps them from binding.
They have to import construction sand. Unless they have found a local source in recent years.