Power of Freedom Rising in Iraq
Another unheralded triumph in Iraq: official state electric power production hit a record 5045 MW in August (p40). With the State department estimating that private generation may be as much as 4500MW, this means electricity production has more than doubled since the fall of Saddam Hussein, and is probably now the highest in Iraq’s history.
This is, of course, in addition to the doubling of potable water and sewage service, the tripling of GDP (p44), the record $7B in oil revenue(p39), and the record low U.S. casualties of July (p15). Additionally, the Bank of Iraq appears to have broken the back of inflation with an aggressive buyback of dinars (p45), which is impressive considering the 300% growth in GPD since 2002.
And lest we forget, there are now hundreds of free newspapers, radio, and TV outlets (p47), as well as ten times greater access to telephones (p46), and free and fair elections are becoming the norm. The police state is long gone, and the sectarian turmoil that filled the vacuum when it fell appears to have run its course as well.
Basic security, basic freedoms and basic services are a good start, but only a necessary, as opposed to sufficient, condition to transform Iraq into the prosperous beacon of freedom and democracy the Mideast so desperately needs. What Iraq requires now is the reliable and accessible system of legal property rights that, as Hernando De Soto has explained, separates successful economies from failed economies. The oil money can cure many ills, but it’s only a temporary crutch.
The most encouraging sign in Iraq? Foreign direct investment in 2008 is ten times what it was in 2007 (p45).
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[…] is a trend I’ve noted before. There are also benefits for rural Iraqis: The USAID officials we visited are working on an […]
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