Criticism of the Proposed IMF Loan to Egypt, reprise

Nov 12

Civil society groups in Egypt have released a letter addressed simultaneously to Hisham Qindil, Egypt’s prime minister, and Christina La Garde, executive director of the International Monetary Fund (the “IMF”), expressing their opposition to the proposed loan.  

Read More

Latest Article on Foreign Policy’s Middle East Channel

Jul 19

In my latest piece on Foreign Policy’s Middle East Channel, I argue that Egyptian progressives’ focus on the “constitution first” is misguided.  Instead, I argue that progressives ought to work for the establishment of an effective and accountable government that can institute the structural changes to the economy that Egypt needs if it truly wants to be a prosperous and independent state.  Comments, of course, are welcome.

Read More

The Low-Hanging Fruit of the Egyptian Economy

Jun 29

It is hardly a secret that the Egyptian economy faces severe structural challenges in the near-term, and that a failure to address these problems could very well doom the prospects for a successful transition to democracy.  The economic legacy of the Mubarak regime is little short of catastrophic, particularly in the collapse of public goods such as education and health.  At the same time, there is a silver lining in the Mubarak regime’s economic incompetence: even a modicum of decent management of the economy has the potential to provide immediate and tangible efficiency gains for the Egyptian economy.  So, the good news is that many of Egypt’s most pressing economic problems do not require complex solutions; rather, they simply need political will to implement the need policy changes.  I call these reforms “low-hanging fruit,” and the extent to which post-revolutionary Egypt shows a willingness to solve these problems will be a definitive signal the likelihood of the revolution’s success.

Read More

Al-Arabiyya’s Interview with Ahmad ‘Izz

Feb 15

Al-‘Arabiyya, an Arabic satellite channel, conducted a lengthy interview with Ahmad ‘Izz, one of the most notorious crony capitalists of the Mubarak era.  He was known to be particularly close to Jamal Mubarak.  He has also been accused of being the architect of the spectacular fraud perpetrated by the NDP in most recent parliamentary elections which led to the NDP holding 99% of all seats in Parliament.  The brazen scale of this fraud, of course, was one of the catalysts of the Revolution and its demand that both houses of Parliament be dissolved.  The interview at least confirms that he is still in Egypt, despite rumors to the contrary.

The YouTube links to the interview are below (in Arabic without subtitles):

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbkmCFujwh0&feature=related
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myg_9glopgg
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLwmGQnFSzQ&feature=related
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjGq0fv5oko&feature=related
Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5XTLyGqASE
Part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FDP6YCxZ8s&feature=related
Part 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZjrlT8mBb8
Part 8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iBTWtTDwdo
Part 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHJimb5H_Zw
Part 10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FftA8LmmTN0

Read More

Wael Ghonim on Egypt as a High-Tech Center

Feb 15

Wael Ghohim spoke with Bloomberg today and discussed, among other things, Egypt’s potential as another high-tech center that could rival India.  That certainly seems to be a reasonable goal.  But it should not come at the expense of thinking about the structural reforms that would be necessary to bring stability to the substantial portion of Egyptian society that has been exluded from the information economy.  It is obviously important for Egyptians to get back to work, but those Egyptians that are now striking have good reason: their real salaries do not allow them to live a dignified life.  Their demands must be addressed if there is to be a stable social contract going forward.

Read More