Tunisia: economic implications | beyondbrics | News and views on emerging markets from the Financial Times – FT.com

The ousting of Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has captivated the Arab world, but spooked investors in one of North Africa’s better performing economies, sending the local stock market plunging and bond yields climbing.

Analysts are now starting to eye other countries that could be ripe for revolution, and there is no shortage of candidates. Tunisia’s toxic mix of rampant youth unemployment, cronyism, autocracy and inflation is mirrored to varying degrees across the Middle East.

As Barclays Capital noted in a report published today, the spill-over risks to the rest of the Middle East and North Africa are “not negligible”.