Gulf Roundtable: The Democracy Tax: Accountability, Transparency and Efficiency in the Gulf

While democratic countries tend to be wealthier than authoritarian countries, few argue that democracy creates wealth.  Still rarer are those who suggest that democracy inhibits wealth creation. The Gulf, however, may be an exception. According to Michael Herb, an associate professor of political science at Georgia State University, “A lot of Kuwaitis, and especially Kuwaitis who are from the merchant elite, tend to blame Kuwait’s economic problems on the parliament. It’s quite frequently said that it’s an obstacle to development.” Herb compared governing systems in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait in a Gulf Roundtable at CSIS on February 19, 2009, and he concluded that democracy can create incentives in oil-rich states to inhibit the private sector and constrain economic growth.