Tag: israeli economy

The miracle of gas: Investing in Israel’s natural gas industry

“If you’re going to the Middle East to look for oil, you can skip Israel. If you’re looking for brains, look no further.” – Warren Buffet In their best-selling book Start-up Nation, Dan Senor and Saul Singer  address the question of how Israel — a small country, only sixty years old, lacking friendly neighbors and with no natural resources — was able to reach such economic growth. Israel continues to be the #2 startup ecosystem in the world, but one of the limitations listed above is about to change. The discovery of Israel’s offshore natural gas reserves will not only make the country independent in being able to supply its own energy needs, but it is likely to become an net energy exporter. For Israel, a country once with little or no domestic energy resources, natural gas has the potential to revolutionize its economic fortunes. Natural Gas in Israel As of March 30th, 2013, investment mogul Warren Buffet would now have to agree that Israel is a one-stop shop for both brains and natural gas. Israel, a country with almost no natural resources, has always relied heavily on expensive...

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Does conflict halt Israel’s growth?

In the book, “Start-Up Nation,” there is an entire chapter talking about the Israeli mindset; how terrorism and war never affects work ethic. Intel has a few D&P centers in Israel. During a rain of rockets fired near one of the centers during the Second Intifada, the Israeli workers continued work as normal, stopping only to seek shelter from the rockets. The book considers this as part of the reason why Intel is so successful, being that Israel has a huge percentage of the company’s profits. In 2005, Intel Israel exported $1.2 billion, over 14 percent of Israel’s sum total of exports. The Israeli workplace was never closed. That is the essence of the Israeli work ethic. It is a common misconception that war halts this country’s GDP. Israel has seen tremendous growth in its GDP since the last war, and is growing exponentially. The last time I saw a chart with this kind of growth was my weight gain since 8th grade.  Notice that in 2012, with a GDP growth of $25 billion dollars, Israel was hit...

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