Depending on how you define wealth, possibly. What is likely is that some people who are very involved in the export industry have become very rich, thus widening the wealth gap, whilst others may still be comparatively poor… ultimately though, it is likely that everyone will have benefited some extend, for example the rich pay lots of tax which pays for public services which benefit other people as well.
An interesting topic… good question.
February 21st, 2010 at 6:15 am
All the people? No
Some of the people? Yes
Arguably, every person in the Middle East has derived benefits from the discovery and production of oil here. Especially when you compare the Mid-East to the festering pit that is West Africa. The bulk of oil money in West Africa is kept out of the local economy by the rulers. Very little is pumped into infrastructure (including education). Here in Saudi Arabia, there are roads and schools that have been paid for with oil money.
References :
February 21st, 2010 at 6:53 am
Depending on how you define wealth, possibly. What is likely is that some people who are very involved in the export industry have become very rich, thus widening the wealth gap, whilst others may still be comparatively poor… ultimately though, it is likely that everyone will have benefited some extend, for example the rich pay lots of tax which pays for public services which benefit other people as well.
An interesting topic… good question.
References :