When can oil economies be deemed sustainable?

This open access book questions the stereotype depicting all Gulf (GCC) economies as not sustainable, and starts a critical discussion of what these economies and polities should do to guarantee themselves a relatively stable future. Volatile international oil markets and the acceleration of the energy transition has challenged the notion that oil revenues are sufficient to sustain oil economies in the near to medium term. But what is the meaning of economic sustainability? The book discusses the multiple dimensions of the concept: economic diversification, continuing value of resources, taxation and fiscal development, labor market sustainability, sustainable income distribution, environmental sustainability, political order (democracy or authoritarianism) and sustainability, regional integration. The overarching message in this book is that we should move on from the simplistic branding of the Gulf economies as unsustainable and tackle the details of which adaptations they might need to undertake.

1. Framing the economic sustainability of oil economies -- 2. Fiscal sustainability, the labour market, and growth in Saudi Arabia -- 3. Outlook for producer economies -- 4. Economic diversification in Arab oil-exporting countries in the context of peak oil and the energy transition -- 5. Economic Diversification and Sustainable Development of GCC Countries -- 6. Redefining economic sustainability in resource-rich states: Comparative lessons -- 7. Fuel and electricity reform for economic sustainability in the Gulf -- 8. Fiscal sustainability and hydrocarbon endowment per capita in the GCC -- 9. GCC fiscal reforms and labor market policies -- 10. Economic diversification and job creation in the Arab Gulf countries: Applying a value chain perspective -- 11. Climate strategy for producer countries: The case of Saudi Arabia -- 12. The sustainability of GCC development under the new global oil order.