Tyler Cowen

rather than being ready for the future, and they consider it another form of fiscal policy, and in essence, barely end up being safer.

That's the track they're on now.

Now, they may get off that, but I'm far from convinced they're actually going to be able to defend themselves.

The Gulf stands a good chance of being one of the most important places in the world.

And I don't just mean for its oil, for its data centers.

And it's possible the smartest entities within a few years will be based in the Gulf.

Now, who controls them?

Who has plug pulling rights?

What leaks out to China?

It's all very complicated.

But there's a very good chance that will happen.

And you asked for historical analogies.

I would say one is England.

As you well know, England was a backwater in world history for most of the millennia.

A number of reasons why that stops, but coal is a big part of those reasons.

And England then becomes arguably the most important nation.

So instead of coal, maybe now it will be AI.

And it could be the world will have a third or maybe fourth AI power, US, China, Saudi, and UAE.

That would be a very strange setup, but it's quite possible.

Have you been out there much?