“The Makhlouf side was generally better educated and refined, so they could help out with the finances, which is something the Assads were not good at and didn’t have the education for,” said Joshua Landis, a Syria specialist and head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. “They were also better at dealing with the people of Damascus and Aleppo, who dominate Syria’s economy.”

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/special-report-collapsing-economy-family-100605827.html