It has been a momentous year for the Arab world and the transformation from autocracies to democracies will not be an easy one for any of the countries. The goal of improving the economic situation will be crucial in determining the success of the ongoing revolutions. Yet, the public debate on how to do so has barely started. There are risks of unsustainable populism, of not addressing some of the main flaws in the system that have generated jobless growth, corruption, and inequality, and there are also risks of throwing by the window some of the few accomplishments of the old regimes. To support the debates on these crucial economic policy issues, the Economic Research Forum, a network of economists in the Arab countries, Iran, and Turkey has initiated a blog page where you can express your opinions, respond to particular blog posts, and follow up what is going on on the economic front. Have a look, and get involved.
It is time for more youth-friendly economic and social policies in Egypt
Ragui Assaad
Despite considerable lip service paid by the previous regime to prioritizing youth issues, including calls for education reform and greater access to employment and affordable housing, I argue in this piece that the regime’s economic and social policies resulted in the exclusion and marginalization of young people in Egypt. As the social contract of the state-led model of development was being gradually dismantled over the past 40 years, youth increasingly bore the brunt of this restructuring, as the regime sought to protect various groups of insiders. As the quintessential outsiders, youth bore the brunt of the transition without benefiting from the fruits of a new social order, which were mostly limited to a few cronies close to the regime. (Click here to read more)
Economics in the age of politics
Ishac Diwan
With the Arab Spring sputtering in Syria, Libya, Bahrain, and Yemen, it is now increasingly important that it establishes a solid foothold in Egypt and Tunisia. A group of would be reformers, led by Morocco and Jordan, are also looking into political and economic reforms that can satisfy popular demands but avoid turmoil. To be sure, there are short term economic challenges in all these countries. But more centrally, while the youth, middle class, labor, and the poor have initiated deep change, a new political and economic settlement has not yet emerged. As witnessed by the recent Orange revolutions, street led action fails if they do not manage to deliver results. (Click here to read more)