“limited words, unlimited thoughts”

What would be the ideal response if you would sit for a lecture given by a PhD in Economics from the Harvard Business School. Wouldn’t it be mesmerizing? Yes!!! Indeed it was.  Dr. Yousef started off by posing a question. That is Dubai into a Boom phase? Inferences were drawn upon to 70’s where the Middle East underwent a transition phase when the oil prices rose to sky high limits. It was dollars pouring in by the seconds which the rise of the black gold and the oil producing nations in return started various benefit programmes for their citizens. Just like anything in this world which is subject to a cycle so are economies and industries. The mid eighties saw the oil price falling and the serious loss of revenues to the Middle East. Suddenly the benefit programmes which earlier used to be like a walk in the park were now more difficult to sustain. Coupled with the Asian crises which also had an impact, left the region with almost negligible growth.  Back again now, with history repeating itself and the oil prices again gaining momentum the big question now is what happens next. Is Dubai still susceptible to the movements in oil prices or are there other means that will ensure that the impact is felt lesser. Although one can say that the Middle East has diversified its revenue streams, with strong emphasis on hospitality, tourism, financials, real estate and other services and manufacturing sectors energy still in a big way impacts the nation’s balance sheet.  Dr. Yousef also drew upon the shifts in economic thinking right from the neo classical era to Keynesian economics when he recited the famous quote of Keynes “In the long run we are all dead.” From where we have come right from the State Controlled era where even the prices of bread that we bought was determined by the state, to the free market economy where the forces of invisible hands interact to form a price-demand-supply mechanism.  Finally Dr. Yousef mentioned that the way for the future would be Knowledge Economies. Knowledge driven societies would emerge as the new parlance and would lead the crowd further into the era of globalization. The move in that direction can be witnessed with Dubai placing a strong emphasis on education, a result of which is the Knowledge Village and the Academic City. Thus we ended with the opening question that was posted to us “Dubai, from boom to bust and back?” still unanswered. Thus it was an interesting session for us as it made us  which posed a lot of questions, the answer to which will only be known to us in the long run.