Petrodollars Arabian alpha

Arab oil exporters accumulated a current account surplus of $133bn in 2005, according to Credit Suisse. And there’s even more to come this year. However, unlike Asian exporters, the Gulf countries are not passively recycling their trade surplus into US securities. Given the ongoing controversy over Dubai’s proposed takeover of several US ports, it’s easy to see why Arabs are wary of investing directly in the US. Nevertheless, Middle Eastern petrodollars have recently been returning to the US as ...