The unprecedented growth of Dubai’s economy started in the 1970s and coincided with the significant increase in oil prices (Sargisson 76). However, the growth of the city’s economy was not a result of the oil boom per se. Even though the revenues from the sale of oil resources helped Dubai to start a series of economic reforms, their share amounted to only 5 percent of the country’s GDP (Sargisson 76). The extraction of oil was a starting point in the long process of developing Dubai’s infrastructure, improving education, and diversifying the economy. The city managed to attract foreign investment thereby supporting its economic growth (Sargisson 76). Dubai’s success provides an important lesson in the importance of human capital development.
There is a popular notion suggesting that poor people are lazy. However, taking into consideration the fact that there is a lack of empirical evidence confirming this idea, it is reasonable to assume that some other factors could account for the economic disparities between people with different socio-economic statuses (Gorski 119). It could be argued that education plays a significant role in the ability of an individual to move up the economic ladder. According to Gorski, children from poor families “have less access than their wealthier counterparts to quality childcare programs as well as preschool programs” (120). Taking into account that the quality of instruction is lacking, children from low-income families might find it extremely difficult to fit into pedagogical frameworks of ever-increasing complexity. Rather than argue that poorer people are lazier, one should say that they do not always have the same ability to pursue economic success that people from wealthier economic backgrounds do. Therefore, in order to have a vibrant economy, it is necessary to provide individuals from different social strata with an equal opportunity for achievement.