Wednesday, September 21, 2011

How OPEC's $1 Trillion In Cash Is Buying The Peace


OPEC’s $1 Trillion Cash Quiets Poor On Longest Ever $100 Oil -- Bloomberg Businessweek

Saudi Arabia will spend $43 billion on its poorer citizens and religious institutions. Kuwaitis are getting free food for a year. Civil servants in Algeria received a 34 percent pay rise. Desert cities in the United Arab Emirates may soon enjoy uninterrupted electricity.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries members are poised to earn an unprecedented $1 trillion this year, according to the U.S. Energy Department, as the group’s benchmark oil measure exceeded $100 a barrel for the longest period ever. They are promising to plow record amounts into public and social programs after pro-democracy movements overthrew rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and spread to Yemen and Syria.

Read more ....

More News On OPEC's Spending Priorities

OPEC members investing in citizens as oil prices climb
-- Financial Post
Sovereign wealth: Spending stays close to home -- Financial Times
IMF: Gulf states face fiscal costs -- Financial Times
To Stave Off Arab Spring Revolts, Saudi Arabia and Fellow Gulf Countries Spend $150 Billion -- Knowledge@Wharton Today

My Comment: All OPEC members have seen what has happened in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, etc... and do not want to be next. But this is only a stop-gap measure, and the question has to then be asked .... what happens if the money runs out?

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