Boomtown?
Newsweak is reporting that Iraq's economy, despite all the bombings and blood and death, is booming. According to one measure, 17% this year and projected for 13% next year. Amazing, really. I would imagine that a fair chunk of that healthy growth rate is the result of starting small - the first part of the growth curve is easy. Still and all, the fact that things are getting together enough for this sort of thing to happen is encouraging, especially in the face of the constant reminders that things are very, very bad indeed.
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Buckethead
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I wouldn't get too excited by
I wouldn't get too excited by these growth numbers. On paper, post-war Germany's GDP grew as well (in excess of 20% from the second half of 1947 to the second half of 1950), but that was achieved mostly through exports. Money wasn't feeding into the domestic economy, nor were needed consumer goods. The situation became bleaker even though the economy showed tremendous potential.
Yeah, I wasn't jumping up and
Yeah, I wasn't jumping up and down in my seat. The equivalent here is oil exports - and in addition you have a lot of aid money coming in. Still, growth is better than the opposite.
There's still room for
There's still room for tremendous potential growth, but if the Germany model follows, realizing a boom economy would depend on advanced economic planning, cooperation between government and industrial sectors, and a public commitment to rebuild the economy. International aid would be one of the lower priorities (Marshall Funds going more to Germany's neighbors than Germany itself).
Granted that 17% growth is
Granted that 17% growth is nowhere near as impressive in a country like Iraq as it would be here, but this is still a very good sign. Always good to have some concrete evidence to point at the real doom-mongers - it ain't perfect, but it is getting better.