Border War, Qat Economics, Tax Cuts and Donkeys………
“One victim of the war with the Houthis in Yemen has been the “qat” people. The sittings which would not be the same without a mouthful of the “relaxing” narcotic plant will become harder. Prices of the “qat” smuggled from Yemen to the Saudi south have skyrocketed by 300%. The total interruption of the qat has been a worry for regular daily users of the plant, and even with tough Saudi border combing there were continued smuggling operations from Yemen. A security official in Jazan told the newspaper that cases of qat and drugs along the border have declined by 50%. This decline is attributed to the military deployment in the area. Smugglers, however, are creative: they have been able to finds routes where the military is not as active……… Qat is an industry on which whole regions, tribes, and clans live….. Qat dealers and arms dealers have benefited from this war, although normally trace benefits most from peace and stability...………”
I enjoyed reading this piece in Asharq Alawsat.
Prices depend on demand and supply. They also depend on the cost, in this case the cost of transport has clearly increased. Then there is the element of risk, which has also increased: the risk of being arrested, of being shot, of being bombed from the air. All this is added cost. It is part of the supply side. I wonder if they insure qat runners.
Now if the Yemeni dictator would only take a page from his old buddy “W” and cut taxes. If only he would reduce taxes on “qat” growers and smugglers, then they would be incentivized to grow more, hire more help, ship more, hire more smugglers, hire more asses to carry the load across. Yes, he must not forget the asses..……
Cheers
mhg
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