Point of View

Navtej Dhillon, Director of the Middle East Youth Initiative, interviews Edward Sayre on the viability of the Palestinian economy in light of the current crisis in Gaza. Sayre is the co-author of a forthcoming Middle East Youth Initiative working paper on demographics and the economy in the West Bank and Gaza, and currently serves as a member of the board of directors for the Middle East Economic Association. A transcript of their conversation follows.

MEYI’s Youth Ambassador Think Tank is a forum to encourage active discussion on topics of timely relevance to Middle Eastern youth. Our fourth topic draws on the context of the current global economic crisis and asks participants if economic life in their country takes place in a “high-trust” or “low-trust” setting, how they anticipate this setting might change in the future, and what the effects of these changes will mean for young people.

Mike Helal, a visiting researcher at the Dubai School of Government and guest writer to the Middle East Youth Initiative, comments on Dubai’s performance in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) tests and assesses the implications for future education policies in the booming emirate. The piece originally appeared in Gulf News on January 8, 2009.