Saudi Reforms Are Ambitious But Are They Achievable?

Can Saudi reforms actually achieve the goal of diversifying away from oil, liberalizing the economy and its society to various degrees?

When Saudi Arabia recently announced they were working to diversify their economy away from oil, one could almost hear a commodity trader’s pain. After oil took a pounding, losing nearly 3/4 of value from peak to trough, having government and social services funding tied to a volatile asset might not be in the nation’s best interest. With thoughts of Arab spring not too far from the minds of rulers in various GCC sovereign nations, the economic underpinnings of a nation dependent on a single commodity to fund military, government and various social service needs might appear akin to riding a...