Kuala Lampur, May 5 -- They called it a mirage. A fever dream in the sand. A trillion-dollar illusion cooked up in a Bedouin tent by a bored crown prince with too much oil money and not enough sense.

"Neom will never happen," they scoffed. "The Line? A glorified laser pointer across dunes."

But something strange is happening in Riyadh.

The desert isn't backing down.

Instead, the Kingdom is doubling down - burning through billions, running a planned US$27 billion budget deficit in 2025, and carrying on as if the markets, the media, and the West don't matter.

Because they don't.

Not to Saudi Arabia. Not anymore.

While Western governments are drowning in debt they pretend not to have, cutting social safety nets to keep their triple-A ...