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Qatar's crisis is impacting business and millions of people
@catch22: "I gave Ted the lead time on this, but I don't find a post or missed something." What you missed is Ted tending to the business of giving MFO Members the latest news and views regarding mutual funds. The Qatar story is a Arab side show with no lasting impact on the investing in mutual funds. Regards, ted
It seems a little strange who is accusing who of ... I sense there is some ulterior motive ... like destroying Qatar economy. Not that I'm claiming to have some insider information regarding Qatar's innocence. But come on, look at the accusers.
@MFO Members: If I'm not mistaken the government of Qatar gives all two million citizen roughly $190,000 in cash from oil revenue every year. That amount, highest per capita income in the world, will buy a lot of food don't you think ? Regards, Ted
How does such a small country pay for all this? Well, thanks to its oil and gas reserves, as well as some good investments, Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world.
In 2016, it was $129,700 (£100,500) - more than $20,000 higher than the next closest country, Luxembourg, the CIA's World Factbook said.
At the other end of the scale, Somalia's GDP was estimated to be just $400 per head.
However, Qatar's wealth is in no way equally spread. The former Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, is reportedly worth $2.4bn. But migrants interviewed by the BBC in 2015 revealed they were earning as little as $350 a month. Men outnumber women - hugely
In a country of about 2.5 million people, there are fewer than 700,000 women.
This imbalance can be attributed to Qatar's sudden population explosion: this is a state built by immigrants, who are overwhelmingly young and male.
The promise of a job has meant people have flooded into Qatar - which is about the same size as Yorkshire - in recent years, taking its population from less than 700,000 in 2003, to an estimated 2.5 million in 2016. Image copyright AFP
While there are female migrants, the vast majority are men building the infrastructure needed for the upcoming World Cup.
They come from all over the world, although the largest numbers come from India and Nepal, making Hindus the third largest religious group in the country, after Muslims and Christians, according to the CIA's World Factbook.
However, despite the promise of work and a better future, several reports in recent years have said migrants are being forced to work in appalling conditions, with more than half still living in labour camps around the country.
Qatar has promised to improve life for its workers, but Amnesty International's report for 2016/17 said they "continued to face exploitation and abuse".
@Lewis Braham: Time to get off you Ivory Soap Box!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When are you and all the other left-wing liberals going to learn, we don't live in a perfect world. Until you reach the great beyond there will always be rich, middle-class, and poor
@Ted And when will you ever admit that you are wrong about anything? Your statement that all 2 million people receive $190k a year was wrong and now that that is evident instead of admitting you were wrong, you go on the attack. That tactic of alternative facts followed by shouting down all truthful opposition sounds awfully familiar.
Seems to me that everyone alive deserves to have the basics provided to them, simply because they live, are here, are alive, and exist. The terrorist crazies will keep doing what they are doing: brainwashed, pathetic tools of some nutjob's screwy agenda. We'll have to deal with them, unfortunately. But in every place that has a functioning economy, I say, WHY NOT? The American myth of rugged individualism is a myth. Recognizing that fact is the giant-step forward toward realizing how a guaranteed monetary "floor" would benefit everybody. And it's not just about profit. Qatar's been funding shady shit. The other Arab countries don't like it. The ones who control Big Money in those oil-countries will make sure the lion's share of money flows to them. Same as the Big Money capitalists, everywhere else. That doesn't have to preclude what I'm suggesting, and I know it's not original to myself.
...In the end, I just don't care about how MUCH credibility any government can claim to have. The truth is, my own country's government has lied to me since I was in my mother's womb. Born in 1954. And Qatar? I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. The gov't there is about as trustworthy as the gov't in D.C. Don't try to tell me how wonderful the USA is. If the USA was so wonderful, then UNIVERSAL healthcare would be a done-deal.
Comments
Regards,
ted
Ted, you cracked the best joke of your lifetime
mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/33465/the-50-best-tv-theme-songs-of-all-time
Derf
Regards,
Ted
bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40163636