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Originally Posted by Basilissa
We don't need a good education system because all the geniuses from the third world who got their education for free, end up working for us
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Ok, you got me there :-).
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Also, I did say that the list was a bit off.
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Well, the reason is that Europe had a pretty strong economy for a considerable amount of time, while not being united under one banner. Today we have got the Eurpoean Union, which still is no country of its own. Result: A lot of countries, none very big like the USA, but all very wealthy. Any current list of developed countries will naturally encompass a lot of European countries. Nevertheless there is no excuse for your confusion.
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Did you check under the "criticism" section?
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We can go through it:
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It assumes a desire to ‘develop’ along the traditional 'Western' model of economic development
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All very nice, but it doesn't provide any reason to see Saudi Arabia as a developed country
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The term 'developing' implies mobility and does not acknowledge that development may be in decline or static in some countries, particularly in southern African states worst affected by HIV/AIDS
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Same here.
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In general, development entails a modern infrastructure (both physical and institutional), and a move away from low value added sectors such as agriculture and natural resource extraction. Developed countries, in comparison, usually have economic systems based on continuous, self-sustaining economic growth in the tertiary sector of the economy and quaternary sector of the economy and high material standards of living. However, there are notable exceptions, as some countries considered developed have a significant component of primary industries in their national economies, e.g., Norway, Canada, Australia. The USA and Western Europe have a very important agricultural sector, and are major players in international agricultural markets. Also, natural resource extraction can be a very profitable industry (high value added), e.g., oil extraction.
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Ah, here we have some reason. The problem that Saudi Arabia faces is that it has virtually NOTHING beyond oil extraction and selling it. Even the refining is mostly done in the buyer countries. A country without any real industry that produces anything of importance, like machinery, chemicals, cars or high tech goods to a relevant degree (relevant means more like the backbone of an economy, not some example here and there) is no developed country.