As you probably know by now oil prices have plummeted, resting near the $40 a barrel mark, and expected by some to slide further still. According to Google, and disregarding increased production for the sake of simplicity, Azerbaijan pumps out about 800,000 barrels of oil a day. That's quite a bit even by today's numbers, amounting to something like $32,000,000/day or about $11.5 billion dollars a year in an economy with a GDP of about $53 billion a year. That's a staggering 20% of the production from oil. But wait, the $53 billion figure could be off, as the 2008 average price of crude was $100, give or take, thus Azerbaijan could have a shortfall of about $17,000,000,000. And with all the crisis, Aliyev still wants to continue spending money that it does not have, as evidenced by their $2.5 billion debt, though likely much more now, in his ultimate wet dream to equal his military spending to Armenia's GDP.
And all this when more Azeris than Armenians live on less than $2 a day, even with the fact that Armenia has zero oil and an economy roughly less than one fourth the size.
So, should we call the bookies?
