I made the presentation on December 8th about the economic
situation in Syria and refugees. I chose these topics because our
class discussed a lot about the political situation in Syria and
refugees, however, if we know both political and economic situations,
we could understand more clearly.
First, I introduced the economy of Middle East. Early December, The
famous French economist, Thomas Piketty, said Middle East is ‘the
most unequal on the planet.’ Because oil monarchies such as Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirate controlled the wealth in
Middle East, and it caused widening gap in the income inequality.
According to his research, these countries own over 60 percent of
wealth in Middle East. Moreover, youth unemployment rates is
extremely high.
Second, I showed the economy of Syria. Syria’s two main sources of
income are oil industries and agriculture businesses. However, the
both of industries are damaged past a decades. Oil industries held
nearly 30 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Syria, but the
total oil production keep declined since 1996. In 2011, it dropped in
half than at peak times. In addition, Agriculture is also damaged
because of the extreme drought in 2006 to 2010. According to the
data, 80,000 farmers lose their job at that moments, and over a
million people fled to rural areas for finding jobs. Now, Syria’s
oil export decreased tremendously, hence GDP is decreasing and the
unemployment rate is increasing which means the economy of Syria is
doomed.
Finally, I talked about economic boons and burdens of accepting
refugees. The countries have to pay lots of money for accepting these
people. Many economists predicts Germany will spend 21 billion euros
in this year. On the other hands, accepting refugees has the economic
benefits. The European countries are aging society. These refugees
would replace the old labor force in Europe. More population means
more consumption and more taxes; therefore, it will be advantages in
long-term.
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