Does anyone know what is going on with Iraq's economy? An update, from the Task Force head guy, Brinkley. (His mid 2007 report is here).
Remember Fareed Zakaria's idea of just starting up the old State industries, to get disgruntled people back to work? Well, it's going, but the number of jobs created so far is pegged at 10,000. Does that strike you as ... shock therapy?
The U.S.'s contracting system now stretches to nearly 4,000 registered Iraqi enterprises. We get figures on the amount of money, but not the geographic dispersion of the number. Is such limited information still a surprise to anyone? Do you believe that there is enough security and enough people to know whether this money is doing more than ending up in corrupt pockets?
Remember Bremer? It's all his fault, they say.
The idea to break the back of Arab socialism, more or less, ending the government gravy trains that ruin real politics, and offer up a triumph of economic liberalism patterned after 'revitalization' of Eastern Europe after the fall. Well, the dropping to zero of all tariffs is seen by Brinkley as "a problem", especially for the depressed farming industry and the end of the gravy train ... was paid for in America lives fighting the insurgency, they suggest, and the unwillingness of investors to rush in and create new means of production to replace the non-competitive ones.
The solution, organized in October 2007, has three parts. Any progress? It looks like all they have are plans, still. A new complex may go ahead inside the green zone ...
40% of the Iraqi population is now under the age 15.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Iraq Econ Update
