Macroeconomics: Monetary & Fiscal Policies eJournal | 2021
United Arab Emirates 2050: The Race to the Top!
Abstract
We perform 360 review on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) geopolitical and economical status to analyze its strengths and weaknesses. The UAE in 2020 is ranked top 22 around the world, and best ranking category is in ‘movers’ (top 1), while adventure and heritage are worst categories (top 63, both). While the UAE is distinctive, dynamic and unique, the main problems are the political and the constitution systems, social inclusion, government debt and lack of energy diversification. We provide a set of policy recommendations to aid policy makers and the business community to enhance the economic growth and development. Our main political recommendations are to separate the state from religion (Islamic sharia), and Democracy from civil liberties, thus, to rewrite the entire constitution with more bills of rights. Social recommendations are to enhance the role of women and support financial inclusion. The key economic policies to implement are modernizing the monetary system as to make the currency floating, not fixed; and lower the overall government debt, that reached all time high relative to GDP, by introducing a taxation system. Finally, diversify the sources of energy with wind farms and solar panels productions. Should these recommendations implemented, we project with high probabilities that the UAE will reach among the top by 2050.