&gt;  It&#x27;s why if the oil disappeared tomorrow, Saudi Arabia would quickly be reduced to impoverished banana republic.<p>this might not be totally true, the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund is almost as large as Norway&#x27;s (so the saudis have not just dumped all money on their people) and AFAIK it&#x27;s quite secretive but somewhat diversified between internal and foreign investments, so they will still have money when the oil runs out.