Tag: economics

Saudi Arabia

The Iran war mongers are getting a clear warning from Saudi Arabia. Cheney was “summoned” to Riyadh.

The White House has wanted it to be believed that Cheney went about the Middle East “lining up” the Sunni leaders to support the Zelikow plan for further empowerment of the Shia Arabs against the Sunni Arab insurgents in Iraq.

2007-05-12: The super-giant Ghawar Oilfield in Saudi Arabia has been responsible for over 50% of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production.

2008-06-21: Saudi oil increase

In the absence of any additional crude supply, for every 1% of crude demand, we will expect a 20% increase in price in order to balance the market.

2013-09-27: You don’t need alcohol to drunk drive

2014-04-02: With the ruler on his deathbed, you gotta wonder what will happen to Saudi Arabia, which isn’t really a historical construct, just held together by crazy (the oil helps too)
2015-01-16: Robb is interesting as always. It seems likely that the end game involves Saudi Arabia, and soon.

Saudi Arabia knows it is in trouble, that’s why the Saudis are trying to buy influence in the west through a cheap oil policy (at the same time, a low price puts the hurt on US frackers and ISIS oil smugglers alike). However, ISIS trumped this effort with Charlie Hebdo. It will be difficult for the Saudis to convince the west they are the real target after the attack in Paris.

2015-02-04: Saudi Arabia Holds All Male Women’s Rights Conference

As is to be expected from Saudi Arabia, a country firmly under the grip of Sharia Law, 0 women attended the event. Perhaps more hypocritically, a single woman is yet to speak at a University of Qassim summit.

2015-08-06: Saudi spending

Social spending is the glue that holds together a medieval Wahhabi regime at a time of fermenting unrest among the Shia minority of the Eastern Province, pin-prick terrorist attacks from ISIS, and blowback from the invasion of Yemen. Diplomatic spending is what underpins the Saudi sphere of influence in a Middle East suffering its own version of Europe’s 30 Year War, and still reeling from the aftershocks of a crushed democratic revolt. We may yet find that the US oil industry has greater staying power than the rickety political edifice behind OPEC.

2018-04-03: Saudis Remake Middle East

But, as sweeping as MBS’s economic and cultural reforms may be, he has expressed no interest in liberalizing the country’s political system. Indeed, the model that seems to best conform to his vision is China, with its dynamic economy, literate population, and authoritarian rule. His efforts are being carried out with 1 overriding goal: to preserve the House of Saud.

State of the World

A remarkable compendium of information at odds with the present fashionable pessimism, Goklany’s The Improving State of the World reveals that, contrary to popular belief, it is the poorest who are enjoying the most dramatic rise in living standards. Refuting a central premise of the modern green movement, it also demonstrates that as countries become richer, they also become cleaner, healthier and more environmentally conscious.

these are the best of times, ever. some good material to give balance to developmental discussions

Anshe Chung, SL tycoon

Anshe Chung Studios is a company that emerged from inside a virtual world. Driven by curiosity, our founder Anshe Chung decided to test in early 2004 if working in the economy of Second Life could sustain the real life of a person – a young boy in a developing country. She supported him by selling Linden dollars earned by providing services for other residents. In 2006 Anshe Chung became the first avatar with a net worth exceeding 1M US$. She has lead a new wave of virtual reality entrepreneurs who have demonstrated to the world the very real profit-making opportunities that exist within virtual world economies. Today Anshe Chung Studios maintains offices in the real world where it employs more than 80 people full time, and is extended by a huge network of virtual reality freelancers worldwide. It hosts 1000s of residents on more than 40 square kilometers of gated communities in virtual worlds, and in terms of sheer magnitude Anshe Chung Studios has developed more virtual property than any other Metaverse development company.

signpost: anshe is now a millionaire from her SL speculation.

Walmart consumer surplus

By exercising its bargaining power, it squeezed profit margins among the major brands, offering them higher volumes in return. It also engaged the most efficient small-scale local producers as suppliers of store brands, thereby creating for itself a residual source of SDS products that could be used in bargaining with the major (multinational) branded suppliers. Those local firms that were not efficient enough to meet Walmex’s terms lost market share, and many failed. At the same time, the limited set of producers that survived grew, and with prodding from Walmex they became more efficient and innovative, adopting innovations first introduced into the market by their multinational competitors. A similar transformation took place among retailers themselves in reaction to the new business practices that Walmex brought to the country. This means an improvement in welfare for Mexican and American consumers, who now have more, and cheaper, soaps to choose from.

Walmart as a schumpeterian force. I love it.

Uninsurable

Another way to look at it is that better ability to predict risks allows us to avoid many of them. If insurers can tell which houses in an earthquake zone will fall, they can raise the price on insuring that house. This produces a more efficient market outcome that seems to be independantly desireable: fewer people will build houses that are likely to be crushed by earthquakes. Even genetic risks have controllable environmental factors; those at risk for heart disease can adopt low-fat diets, excercise, and take statins; those likely to develop diabetes can go easy on dessert. Even carriers of the infamous BRCA genes generally opt to reduce their risk, through the drastic step of removing their breasts, and often their ovaries. They do this, not to avoid high insurance costs, but to extend their lives. But what about the poor? It is hard to see any reason why insurance companies should subsidize them. If society thinks that poor families should have insurance, then society should pay for it through the tax code, not slap regulations on insurance companies to keep information from reaching the market.

the good and bad of increased actuarial fidelity