Nerf-Coated World

Capitalism in Iraq

Capitalism in Iraq is following the expected pattern: it's flourishing...

the private side of rebuilding is proceeding at breakneck speed -- without much in the way of government involvement, official supervision or international approval.
...to the extent that the government keeps its hands off:
Sandi, the merchant banker, came to Iraq with plans to install a cellular telephone network and launch a commercial airline. He said he had a telecom vendor ready to start installing towers and relay stations. He had arranged to lease several jetliners and hire former Iraqi Airways pilots, crews and ground personnel to begin twice-weekly flights from New York to Baghdad.

But ORHA had other ideas... they would confiscate any telecommunications equipment that he tried to install. If he tried to launch commercial air service, his planes would be grounded, they said. Those areas of reconstruction are subject to high-level approval, and remain off limits to upstarts for now.

"They are not facilitators," he said of ORHA officials. "They are not helpful. They are nothing but a bunch of bureaucracy."

Too bad for all the Iraqis, who might have otherwise had access to decent mobile phone service and an airline. (As goes the ancient Arabic proverb: "What good is Baghdad International [Airport] if there are no planes to fly from there?"... My translation may be off.)

The article has some great perspective offered from a Concerned Expert, who fears that the true, laissez-faire capitalism we see in Baghdad might actually do damage to a society that has for thirty years depended on a centralized government. Then, cut to:

Still, for every economic hand wringer, there is at least one cowboy capitalist ready to tame the new frontier.

"It's like Texas in 1879," said Ihsan Hussein Ali, who was not sure why he chose to cite that year in particular. "There are no rules."

Did you see that? "Tame the new frontier?" That's the magic of the Old West! That wasn't derogatory! I can't believe my eyes here: this is the L.A. Times, and a writer used the term "cowboy" in its romantic, positive light! With an interview with said cowboy, praising the lack of rules, and quite amusingly, paying homage to my home as an example of that free and capable character.

"[T]he streets of Baghdad have become one big duty-free bazaar." Prices are falling, "because there's no government now," according to the locals. What a great time to be alive. All those little Bin Ladens we were supposed to produce in Iraq might actually find jobs and lead a productive life.

And: I sure hope the US figures it out; that the worst thing we could do is go in there and slap a bunch of regulation on Iraq (because after all, that's what civilized countries do). My money's on the position that the people in charge just want to establish order and then get the hell out; they want to go home, and there's no sense sticking around to build a bureaucracy. Maybe I'm being too generous in my estimations, but there's hope.

Finally, the article gives a little anecdote that might address what I think is the most important issue in all of this, at least as far as the US is concerned. How are the Iraqis coming to see the US in all of this? Liberators? Aggressors? Oppressors?

Salah Talab has been operating his House of Elegant Bodies weightlifting gym in a nondescript concrete building for seven years... "Where you from? California? Good! Big beach for bodybuilding!" he said, sketching an imaginary coastal expanse with his hands....

"Membership $10 a month for Iraqis," Talab said. "For Americans, I make discount. Any amount you want."

Posted by Matt at June 9, 2003 12:17 PM