Thanks for the interesting comments about Saudi - I spent a couple of years working in Riyadh in the late eighties.

On a different subject do you see the re-occurrence of the US debt ceiling with the Senate's inability to pass (anything...) creating any problems?

Eoin Treacy's view

Thank you for this topical question which I’m sure will be of interest to other subscribers. On another note, I suspect even veterans of living in Saudi would be surprised at the extent of progress made since MBS has taken power. 

The Tea Party movement gained traction in the aftermath of the credit crisis. They eventually gained enough sway over the Republican Party to force fiscal constraints onto the 2nd Obama administration. The Freedom caucus has given us a sneak peak at the trajectory of budget negotiations in the concessions they squeezed out of Keven McCarthy.