The one detail I found most interesting is the historical point:
"The executives I met all showed pictures of their youth, reminding me that just a few decades ago, their country was nothing more than sand, tents, and simple stone."
The idea the "capitalism/democracy/natural resources" is what make the USA a world power is a limited analysis. There are huge cultural and social forces that can not just be bought. He suggested 'human capital' would have been the best investment, but it is only princes that are provided with advanced education and it's likely only a few of those are interested in slogging through the trenches of starting a real business. Educate non-royal-family citizens and you will be financing some type of revolution, not something the Dubai power structure would ever allow I suspect.
This quote stuck out at me and I found myself revisiting the article just to find it. Here's the thing in full:
"The executives I met all showed pictures of their youth, reminding me that just a few decades ago, their country was nothing more than sand, tents, and simple stone. Maybe they held on to the pictures to impress upon me the great progress Dubai has made, maybe they held on to them to reassure themselves that life would go on even if they had to return someday to their tents. Personally, I took the pictures as a reminder that the men running Dubai’s gargantuan companies had been given an upbringing that could not prepare them corporate management."
I couldn't help but think that if he had built something comparably substantial in his life, he would know that the executives are showing him the pictures out of pride for their accomplishments.
And what does it mean that their upbringing couldn't prepare them for corporate management? Why shouldn't the people who transformed their country from sand, tents, and stone into skyscrapers be able to manage corporations?
Switzerland might not have much mineral resources - but you might want to compare the skiing in Switzerland and Dubai to see one small area where the Swiss have a lot more going for them than Dubai does.
The statement about making money without actually making "things" or a helping people conflicts with his advice to Dubai which is to simply invest the money in the 'market' which some would argue creates nothing for society.
I guess maybe for him simply shuffling paper and money isn't acceptable but he feels comfortable advising the same technique for Dubai because of their inability to make 'things'?
There is no contradiction. While some might argue that investing money in the 'market' creates nothing for society, it is fairly clear to me that he believes that investment can create sustained economic growth for the benefit of all.
As for the previous installment, it was clear to me that he had no objection to shuffling paper and money. What he disliked was pandering to people, offering them bad advice that they wanted to hear so you could take their money. He would have been quite happy to charge the same amount or more for offering good advice that left them better off, and was frustrated that he didn't have the ability to do so.
Both positions are perfectly consistent with an idealistic believer in free markets who genuinely wants to what is good for everyone in the long run. Since that is the impression he leaves, I find no dissonance at all within his belief system.
"...simply invest the money in the 'market' which some would argue creates nothing for society"
Those people are wrong.
His statement about his work being worthless wasn't because money was being made without making things. It was because his work wasn't valuable at all, but his company was still getting paid for it.
"Personally, I took the pictures as a reminder that the men running Dubai’s gargantuan companies had been given an upbringing that could not prepare them corporate management"
Am I the only one who finds this not-so-subtley racist?
After spending the better part of a year dealing with these men and seeing first hand how poorly they were doing corporate management, I'd take his observations (if not conclusions) seriously.
Note that he goes on to make it clear that he doubts he would do any better if he had their background. And one of his suggestions is that they invest in education. Which says that he did not think they were lacking in innate ability, and does not come off to me as a slight against their race. Only their circumstances.
Rather than racism, I would fault him for having too much confidence in the value of his formal education. But he redeemed himself in the following paragraph, which I think is an insightful description of the dangers of giving people great wealth and responsibility with little regard to ability and competence. Perhaps he will see things as I do once he is old enough to have seen people succeed despite having little formal education, and rich brats fail despite having had access to every educational advantage.
States like Saudi Arabia and Dubai have unjust societies and failed cultures.
Anyone who is fine with their society being a slave state (which Dubai is, for many "guest workers" from the Third World, often working in construction) and has no problem with the oppression of women should not be running anything. (That doesn't negate the fact that many such people, here and abroad, do end up running the show.)
So no, I don't think it's racist. I think that for Dubai to suddenly adopt capitalism is like for tsarist Russia to make a go at communism. This has nothing to do with race; it has to do with culture and readiness to assume responsibility.
"The executives I met all showed pictures of their youth, reminding me that just a few decades ago, their country was nothing more than sand, tents, and simple stone."
The idea the "capitalism/democracy/natural resources" is what make the USA a world power is a limited analysis. There are huge cultural and social forces that can not just be bought. He suggested 'human capital' would have been the best investment, but it is only princes that are provided with advanced education and it's likely only a few of those are interested in slogging through the trenches of starting a real business. Educate non-royal-family citizens and you will be financing some type of revolution, not something the Dubai power structure would ever allow I suspect.