

In a free market structure, Saudi oil exports create huge demand for the Saudi Riyal, making it appreciate massively against all other currencies. This makes any other export uncompetitive, and imports really cheap. Thus, it kills off most of Saudi Arabia’s domestic industries, actively punishing diversification despite being the smart thing to do.
To extend this further, Saudi Arabia exemplifies how capitalism is very efficient at making huge profits, but really bad at building a functional economy. It’s why the US spends 17.6% of its GDP on healthcare, and yet has a terrible life expectancy for a developed country.

There is undeniably a lot more activity around the DPRK these days, the newly constructed greenhouse, hospital, and resort all reflect a growing, stable economy, and there have been first-in-a-decade visits from Vietnam and Indonesia. It is fantastic for the people of the DPRK, and with the US in decline, I can’t see this slowing down.