Heidegger

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16241340/sit…

Excerpts:

Civil war or not, Iraq has an economy, and-mother of all surprises-it’s
doing remarkably well. Real estate is booming. Construction, retail and
wholesale trade sectors are healthy, too, according to a report by Global
Insight in London. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 34,000 registered
companies in Iraq, up from 8,000 three years ago. Sales of secondhand cars,
televisions and mobile phones have all risen sharply. Estimates vary, but
one from Global Insight puts GDP growth at 17 percent last year and projects
13 percent for 2006. The World Bank has it lower: at 4 percent this year.
But, given all the attention paid to deteriorating security, the startling
fact is that Iraq is growing at all.
….
Even so, there’s a vibrancy at the grass roots that is invisible in most
international coverage of Iraq. Partly it’s the trickle-down effect. However
it’s spent, whether on security or something else, money circulates. Nor are
ordinary Iraqis themselves short on cash. After so many years of living
under sanctions, with little to consume, many built up considerable nest
eggs-which they are now spending. That’s boosted economic activity,
particularly in retail. Imported goods have grown increasingly affordable,
thanks to the elimination of tariffs and trade barriers. Salaries have gone
up more than 100 percent since the fall of Saddam, and income-tax cuts (from
45 percent to just 15 percent) have put more cash in Iraqi pockets. “The
U.S. wanted to create the conditions in which small-scale private enterprise
could blossom,” says Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at Global Insight.
“In a sense, they’ve succeeded.”
….
Consider some less formal indicators. Perhaps the most pervasive is the
horrendous Iraqi traffic jams. Roadside bombs account for fewer backups than
the sheer number of secondhand cars that have crowded onto the nation’s
roads-five times as many in Baghdad as before the war. Cheap Chinese goods
overflow from shop shelves, and store owners report quick turnover.
Real-estate prices have risen several hundred percent, suggesting that
Iraqis are more optimistic about the future than most Americans are.

Posted on Thursday, December 21st, 2006 at 5:00 am
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