Let's Do It Again - Saudi Arabia

[mrstickball]

mai said:

Why I'm still surprised how blindfolded and ill-informed some people are? Nothing that happened in North Africa has anything to do with 'democratization'.

Countries, where demonstrations and riots happened recently, have a similar economic characteristic - they are all major importers of grain. In such a situation the economy of the importing countries is very sensitive to changes in the global grain market, so this problem goes beyond the economy and is a matter of national security and social stability. Note that over the past six months quotes on many commodities exchanges were at multi-year highs thanks to cheap dollars, which FRS is issuing at a growing rate. Banks and other financial institutions have choosed to pour these money into stock and commodities exchanges instead of crediting Americans that en masse have lost their credibility for the last few years. As a result, under the excuse of inflationary fears and loss of confidence in the dollar, speculators of all kinds and sizes inflated prices of most assets, including contracts for agricultural products. Residents of Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and probably some other countries of the region have at least doubled their spendings on food. I'm pretty sure that some secret services contribute one's mite into this mess, likely Israel is the most interested party here. Here we go, an easy recipe for revolution.

BTW visit Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia someday so you may check 'peace' and 'prosperity' by your own as well.

I would check prosperity relative to the years' prior to them having their revolutions.

Look at PPP growth by country before and after the communist revolutions and the breakup of the Soviet Union. Much of Eastern Europe has grown leaps and bounds since their revolutions.

Average GDP growth in Western Europe since the communist revolutions has grown by 70-100% in the past 18 years (1992-2010) for countries like France, the UK and Austria. Comparatively, in Eastern European countries - like the ones you mentioned, have grown  at rates of 200-300% in the same time period. For example, Estonia has grown from $5,700 USD in 1992 to $18,000 in 2010 - a 220% increase. Comparatively, France grew by just 72% in the same time period.

Are they as wealthy as Western Europe? Absolutely not. But its a much better situation than it was in 1980. Instead of Western European economies being 3 times the average PPP, its now around 2 times for most countries.

So yes, I checked my 'prosperity'. Eastern Europe has indeed flourished under capitalism and democratization. Just like many other countries have as well. Most of Europe is peaceful as well. No major worries of a nuclear holocaust.