# Qatar World Cup: Good Return on Investment?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qatar-world-cup-good-return-on-investment/976030>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 4, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qatar-world-cup-good-return-on-investment/976030 "2022-12-04T22:05:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qatar-world-cup-good-return-on-investment/976030/21 "2022-12-06T15:11:18Z")

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> [@jjakucyk](#):
>
> Qatar is barely larger than Connecticut and has a total population roughly the equivalent of the metro areas of San Antonio, Orlando, or Charlotte. That’s an incredible amount of money for such a small area/population, some $150K per person.

When dealing with Qatar (or any of the small Gulf countries) it’s important to be sure you’re looking at the relevant population figures. In some of these countries the real locals / citizens / natives represent barely 20% of the people living / working there. Everybody else is a foreigner of some flavor usually on a temporary work contract.

Unlike the US or Europe, most of these petro-states’ government income comes from resource extraction, not taxes on the citizens and “guest” workers. The fiscal implications of government spending are not the same in these sorts of countries as we’re used to thinking about here at home.

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**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qatar-world-cup-good-return-on-investment/976030/22 "2022-12-06T15:27:15Z")

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Has that $300-400 billion number been verified? I feel that someone snuck an extra zero in at some point… Even with all the infrastructure projects, a $30-40 billion price tag seems more likely for Qatar.

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**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qatar-world-cup-good-return-on-investment/976030/23 "2022-12-17T03:01:23Z")

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That number might have been inflated by huge amounts, who knows? But this is what I was thinking.

> **[Global Leaders Mix Sports and Diplomacy at the World Cup](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/16/us/politics/leaders-sports-diplomacy-world-cup.html)**
>
> Dozens of top officials have flown to Qatar to cheer for teams while talking shop. The event has magnified the tiny Gulf nation’s role as a diplomatic broker.

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