Bahrain Economic Bulletin 2/2017
A concise monthly publication that covers the headline Bahraini economic indicators and the most important Bahraini business, financial, and economics news.
The economic program focuses on the economies of Bahrain and the Arabian Gulf region, covering the macro-economy, economic development, energy and labour markets.
A concise monthly publication that covers the headline Bahraini economic indicators and the most important Bahraini business, financial, and economics news.
Falling oil prices have forced the GCC countries to revise or, in the case of Saudi Arabia, launch their economic visions, creating a potentially important role for consultants. According to Global Research Saudi Arabia’s consulting market expanded by 14.8 percent to $1.25 billion in 2015, accounting for...
Falling oil prices have forced the GCC countries to revise or, in the case of Saudi Arabia, launch their economic visions, creating a potentially important role for consultants. According to Global Research Saudi Arabia’s consulting market expanded by...
“Such then is the human condition, that to wish greatness for one’s country is to wish harm to one’s neighbors,” reflected the French philosopher Voltaire. This adversarial perspective toward foreign relations is alive and well today, as evidenced in the Brexit vote and the...
Throughout most of human history, economists considered education a purely intellectual pursuit. Students at higher education institutions such as Oxford University were considered the representative case: independently rich, and studying disciplines with little or no labour market value, such as theology.
A concise monthly publication that covers the headline Bahraini economic indicators and the most important Bahraini business, financial, and economics news.
The human capital model of education, developed in the 1950s, analysed education as a way of building valuable skills. It provided economists with an intellectual foundation for treating education as a source of wealth, paving the way for the big expansion in higher education that has happened in advanced economies since the 1970s.
Russia has nominally committed to cutting its oil production by 300,000 barrels over the first few months of 2016. How did oil and financial markets react? How will they react in the near future?
The two biggest electoral shocks this year were unquestionably the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, and Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections. A key issue among voters was the perception that migrant workers depress the wages of low-skilled nationals, because of their willingness to work for a lower wage.
The primary factors that govern a worker’s wage are the worker’s ability to generate revenue for the company and the degree of competition from other workers. Sometimes, this organic wage determination process results in a wage that society regards as “too low to make a living”, leading to calls for a minimum wage.
Raising female labor force participation from 22% to 30% represents one of the Saudi Arabian government’s goals in its Vision 2030. All advanced economies feature strong female participation in the labor force, as robust economies make use of all available resources, male and female.
One salient difference between economists and non-economists is that the latter are often observed describing prices, including wages, as being “fair” or “unfair”, whereas economists will scarcely use such terms.
A concise monthly publication that covers the headline Bahraini economic indicators, and the most important Bahraini business, financial, and economics news.
A concise monthly publication that covers the headline Bahraini economic indicators, and the most important Bahraini business, financial, and economics news.
The recent success of Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways has concerned global competitors, who have responded with government-mediated complaints alleging of “unfair” assistance from the Gulf governments, such as interest-free loans.
Under normal circumstances (the GCC is not included; see below), a company agrees to pay you a wage for one reason only: the tasks that you perform generate revenues for the company.
Oil has given the Gulf economies a very unique structure, which complicates comparisons to traditional economies. In particular, hydrocarbon income has played a large role in creating labor forces wherein nationals constitute a minority, a rare occurrence.
In last week’s Econ 101 column, we learnt that when a government struggles to manage its finances, it will suffer inflation and high interest rates, and that one remedy is to join the currency of a fiscally disciplined country.