The Emirates Economist

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105498322026-04-15T23:35:13.818+04:00The Emirates EconomistEconomic analysis of events in the United Arab Emirates and the GulfJohn B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.comBlogger3795125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-20887015262876579202017-05-13T04:57:00.001+04:002017-05-13T04:57:26.078+04:00Speed daters make matches like economists

NPR's Planet Money reports on the design of the market for freshly-minted PhDs in economics. The market hasn't changed since I went on the market in 1979. The meetings that January were held in snowy Atlanta, and just like the job seeker in the report, I was running from one hotel to another doing 20+ interviews in a little over three days.

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-71612860440390576832014-04-11T19:45:00.004+04:002014-04-11T19:47:29.767+04:00If you want max profits

If you want max profit Reason on the margin Come on baby find the Q [Alternative lyrics for last line: Come on baby find the price] She sits alone waiting for suggestions He's so nervous, avoiding all the questionsHis lips are dry, her heart is gently poundingDon't you just know exactly what they're thinking If you want max profit Reason on the margin Come on baby find the Q

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com142tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-43978289048487643902014-01-08T23:19:00.002+04:002014-01-09T00:02:04.497+04:00Seven charged over alleged $501m Dubai fraud (edited)

(1/8/2013: This post has been abbreviated. It was originally posted in March 2009. See more in the comments to this post.) Financial Times: Dubai’s public prosecution has charged seven businessmen with crimes related to an alleged scheme to defraud Dubai Islamic Bank of $501m, official records show....International censure has mounted against the government’s decision to hold without charge

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com128tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-81204987155683988262012-06-04T22:02:00.001+04:002012-06-04T22:02:03.957+04:00Stateless in the UAE; Bidoun

Financial Times: In the UAE, the bidoun’s difficulties have surfaced in the curious case of the Comoros passports. At least a thousand stateless residents have taken the documents, says Zoubert A Soufiane Al Ahdal, Comoros ambassador to the UAE.  Bidoun in the UAE say the Comoros documents make it easier for them to meet tougher official identity requirements for securing papers such as

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com114tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-15723274006854886122011-10-18T06:21:00.002+04:002011-10-18T06:27:29.596+04:00The Culture that is the UAE

BlackBerry cuts made roads safer, police sayA dramatic fall in traffic accidents this week has been directly linked to the three-day disruption in BlackBerry services.In Dubai, traffic accidents fell 20 per cent from average rates on the days BlackBerry users were unable to use its messaging service. In Abu Dhabi, the number of accidents this week fell 40 per cent and there were no fatal

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com175tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-73038987776135622722011-10-17T01:22:00.005+04:002011-10-17T01:49:00.558+04:00WaPo covers wackynomics of Dubai

Washington PostWhen its gasoline pumps started going dry in the United Arab Emirates’ poorer northern states earlier this year, Dubai’s oil company blamed mysterious service upgrades. Few believed that at the time, and now the company is dropping its subtlety, triggering an uncharacteristically public spat over fuel pricing policies. When its gasoline pumps started going dry in the United Arab

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com144tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-90345049876903616752011-09-05T06:47:00.001+04:002011-09-05T06:49:54.531+04:00Paragraph of note

In 2005, a company called CyberTrust—which has since been purchased by Verizon— gave Etisalat, the government-connected mobile company in the UAE, the right to verify that a site is valid. Here's why this is trouble: Since browsers now automatically trust Etisalat to confirm a site's identity, the company has the potential ability to fake a secure connection to any site Etisalat subscribers might

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com61tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-37307510926123047952011-08-06T16:46:00.002+04:002011-08-06T16:49:14.115+04:00Shouting in the Dark

Al Jazeera's documentary on the Bahraini revolution can be seen here.

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com179tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-21649793224592107722011-08-01T18:33:00.001+04:002011-08-01T18:35:35.258+04:00Political risks to watch in the UAE

In the opinion of AlertNet.

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-49918088501498849752011-07-28T02:26:00.003+04:002011-07-28T02:36:42.963+04:00Sad

Some are pushed out, others vote with their feet.The New York Times: Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a professor of political science at U.A.E. University, said the Iranian issue was likely to have been a “small reason among many” that may have led to the closure of the Gulf Research Center in Dubai.Although the center’s license was refused before the Arab Spring began, other experts point to the move

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-69262314871809934602011-07-19T04:34:00.002+04:002011-07-19T04:43:05.824+04:00Dubai's Arab Spring dividend

If Dubai is a business (it is, by the way), then the Arab Spring is paying dividends. Not in metaphorical political freedom dividends for its citizens, but in real dividends. The ever-haunting question of the recession, “Who will live in all these flats and houses?” is being answered. It’s not the answer that the city planners or the real estate developers expected, but it is an answer: they

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-50198961518754230112011-07-18T20:43:00.003+04:002011-07-19T04:29:28.196+04:00Rights groups call for end of trail of activists charged with insulting officials

The call comes from Amnesty International, the Arabic Network For Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Front Line Defenders and Human Rights Watch: The call comes as the activists’ trial for “publicly insulting” the UAE president and other top officials re-opens on 18 July in Abu Dhabi's Federal Supreme Court, against the backdrop of a wider clampdown on dissent in the UAE...."The UAE government is

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-37510943909714047172011-07-18T05:59:00.002+04:002011-07-18T06:05:15.756+04:00The Economics (and Accounting) of Al Qaeda in Iraq

The Boston Globe: ... contrary to speculation that Al Qaeda in Iraq was reliant on international donations, this wasn’t a source of funding either. The group was self-financing. In fact, the core organization of Al Qaeda in Iraq in Anbar province was so profitable that it sent revenue to associates in other provinces of Iraq, and perhaps even further afield. The group raised millions of dollars

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-31141329599930445522011-07-06T18:33:00.003+04:002011-07-06T18:51:51.856+04:00Abu Dhabi takes control

From what I can tell Abu Dhabi has tired of a game of chicken with Dubai over fuel prices. Since it essentially has an ownership stake in Dubai since the financial crisis it can evidently act unilaterally, taking over Dubai-owned gas stations that have stopped selling petrol.The Gulf News reports details concerning the fuel price rules that fit conjectures I (and others) have made in the past.

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-91564485145564128212011-06-18T01:31:00.002+04:002011-06-18T01:33:51.389+04:00Been raped? In Dubai you've committed adultery

And that means jail time for you. Read more here.

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-35735378883857017632011-06-16T17:57:00.002+04:002011-06-16T18:07:01.683+04:00Countries ranked by GDP per capita

Global Finance magazine has ranked countries by GDP per capita. Qatar comes out first among all nations at $90,000. Second is Luxembuorg at $74,000.Within the GCC, Qatar is followed by Kuwait ($39,000, 14th place) and the UAE ($36,000, 18th place).These numbers are not adjusted for the number migrant workers. Because of the small proportion of citizens in the UAE population, one of the smallest

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-22805276119443355942011-06-16T04:40:00.003+04:002011-06-16T04:52:10.579+04:00NYT reports on gas lines in UAE

The New York Times picks up the story of petrol shortages in the United Arab Emirates: For the third time in the past 10 months, service stations across the United Arab Emirates have been running out of gasoline in recent weeks....The Sharjah Executive Council, a government policy-making body, is putting pressure on the fuel retailers for more information, after a three-week shortage in the

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-33247575981530318542011-06-15T21:22:00.001+04:002011-06-15T22:29:26.547+04:00Fuel shortage? Financial Times and Emirates Economist on same page

Did you hear the one about the oil-rich country that had a fuel crisis?Financial Times ... the latest shortages in some emirates of the United Arab Emirates may stem from a different type of crisis: a longstanding economic imbalance rooted in intra-federal politics.The petrol stations that have “run out” of gasoline are Emirates National Oil Company and EPPCO, both owned by the Dubai

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-44350350362869339272011-06-15T19:33:00.000+04:002011-06-15T19:33:00.321+04:00UAE called upon to drop charges against reform advocates

Human Rights Watch The United Arab Emirates attorney general should immediately drop all charges against five pro-democracy activists to halt their trial, Human Rights Watch said today. The charges of "humiliating" top officials relate solely to the defendants' peaceful use of speech to criticize the UAE government and therefore violate their freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said. UAE

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-36623406984449780982011-06-15T18:06:00.002+04:002011-06-15T18:18:52.654+04:00China, North Korea and the Arab Spring

Word: globalization.The reach is far.Topic one: Knockoff phones from autocratic China fuel the Arab Spring The irony is that the Arab Spring has triggered a paroxysm of repression within China (sparked by the rumblings of a “Jasmine Revolution”) which has made life harder for its cell phone bandits, who were previously hiding in plain sight. But China's crackdown can't put the phones back in the

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-19750280804009305142011-06-14T18:14:00.003+04:002011-06-14T18:28:46.550+04:00I rest my case

What is the UAE afraid of?Activists accused of criticising Government have first day in court - The National ABU DHABI // Five activists, arrested on charges of criticising the Government, made their first appearance in court this morning.Prosecutors and defence lawyers for Ahmed Mansour Ali Abdullah al Abd al Shehi, Nasser Ahmed Khalfan bin Gaith, Fahad Salim Mohammed Salim Dalk, Hassan Ali al

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-33505676310147196612011-06-13T20:50:00.002+04:002011-06-13T20:56:54.043+04:00Emarat steps into the petrol gap

Emirates 24/7 The Emarat filling stations in the Dubai and across all the northern emirates have witnessed heavy rush and a drastic increase in sales of fuel over the last two weeks, an apparent fallout of non-availability of fuel in other filling stations.Emarat, a subsidiary of Emirates General Petroleum Corporation, registered a 50 per cent rise in sales over the past two weeks, straining its

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-87845033978829761542011-06-11T21:37:00.002+04:002011-06-11T21:43:35.986+04:00Energy rich country out of gas, electricity

It's life in the UAE and it's been going on for years.Khaleej Times Petrol remained largely unavailable in majority of the petrol pumps in Sharjah even as the Sharjah Executive Council’s deadline for answers from the company crept past. However, no explanations were forthcoming from the ENOC group, the parent company of retailers ENOC and EPPCO that are the most affected.To add fuel to fire,

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-16385499560852176592011-06-11T14:45:00.000+04:002011-06-11T14:45:00.640+04:00Shame on the Iranian regime

If you have any doubts about the evil that is the Iranian regime see this report of how it treated this woman.

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10549832.post-76424877219762464122011-06-11T05:28:00.000+04:002011-06-11T05:28:00.562+04:00PBS provides a good account of the OPEC meeting's tensions

Check it out here.

John B. Chiltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18208312356775869565noreply@blogger.com2