patrick.net

yeah, it's a poor and hastily written sentence -- my apologies...

more research actually suggests it's only half a trillion in the US, or $420 billion, and a total of about $760 billion, or 3/4 of a trillion, in the US and Europe combined.

(According to the Institute for Research Middle Eastern Policy, a pro-Saudi think tank which tries to emphasize the importance of Saudi money to the United States -- Tanya C. Hsu , “The United States Must Not Neglect Saudi Arabian Investment” Sept. 23, 2003.)

so only half a trillion. sorry.

one of the reasons many ordinary Saudis are so pissed off with things is that their real wages have been chopped by 2/3 since the 1980s.

note that 60% of overseas investment by saudi arabia is in the US, tho...

Hmm, I can't comment on the amount, though I guess the number could go either ways.

"one of the reasons many ordinary Saudis are so pissed off with things is that their real wages have been chopped by 2/3 since the 1980s."

For some reason, I thought it was much worse than that. My impression was that Saudi Arabia was once on par per capita with the US, but is now less than 1/2 of that. Also, given that need to desalinate their water and don't let their women drive, the cost of living would be a lot higher. Since their males are generally not trained in the sciences of making new stuff, their women can't even do anything outside of the home, and they have a huge population boom -- I will agree with you that the Sauds have gotten themselves into quite a situation.