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Article: Why is civic honesty lacking in Arab, Islamic countries?

6/25/2019

Published in Al Arabiya

Late June saw the leading scientific journal, Science, publish an article ranking a sample of 40 countries in civic honesty, where people voluntarily refrain from opportunistic behavior. Worryingly for Arab and Islamic countries, they dominated the lowest positions in the rankings, while the highest positions were reserved for the countries with the highest living standards. While it is difficult to demonstrate a definitive causal relationship between civic honesty and economic success, the data should make policymakers think hard about the need to make people trust each other more as part of their economic strategies.

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Article: "Should the Gulf countries ditch customs taxes?"

6/17/2019

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Published in AlArabiya

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries currently have a single market with a common external tariff of five percent. The introduction of a value-added tax (VAT) in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE under the GCC framework significantly expands the fiscal flexibility enjoyed by the governments. As a result, the Gulf countries should work toward eliminating customs taxes, switching exclusively to VAT. The primary benefit will be in opening markets for the Gulf countries’ new non-oil exports as they implement their economic visions.

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Article: "Why Saudi Arabia should consider increasing some public sector salaries"

6/9/2019

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Published in AlArabiya

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is predicated upon making the private sector more attractive to citizens, and decreasing the economy’s dependence upon expatriates, especially in high-skilled jobs. In the long-run these goals are compatible, but in the short-run they are slightly conflicting. The government should prioritize intelligent decreases in the role of skilled foreigners who are specially brought in to fill public sector managerial positions, by boosting public sector wages for citizens

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Article: Why is civic honesty lacking in Arab, Islamic countries?

Article: "Should the Gulf countries ditch customs taxes?"

Article: "Why Saudi Arabia should consider increasing some public sector salaries"

Omar Al-Ubaydli

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