Limousine Saudization Put on Hold for 3 Years - Arab News

JEDDAH, 12 February 2005 — A dearth of Saudi drivers has forced the government to further postpone full nationalization of limousine business from Feb. 10.

Does it surprise you that Saudi Arabia is resorting to creating jobs for nationals in the taxi industry?

Unemployment amongst nationals in Saudi Arabia is high (estimated to be as high as 35 percent). Or is it? What do you call it when there are jobs but no one takes them?

It's common in this part of the world for the government to announce one thing and then later say, well, that's not going to happen. I'm not sure why. A conjecture I have is that autocracies act first and think later (about feasibility and unintended consequences), and are capable of quicker mid-course corrections. And just because you have an autocracy doesn't mean you can snap your fingers and it can and will be done -- but when you've got the power there's an impulse to act like you do. Or maybe it's that autocracies don't have a good way of foreseeing how the public will react to a policy innovation because there isn't an open deliberation before the attempt to implement. Maybe there's a lesson here for autocratic styles of leadership in organizations.