 Coalition Economic Policies in IraqBassam Yousif Chapter 10 in Rebuilding Devastated Economies in the Middle East, 2007, pp 225-241 from Palgrave Macmillan Abstract: Abstract It is almost an article of faith that the U.S. administration lacked a postwar plan for Iraq. This chapter poses a challenge to this view, as it will be argued that, at least in the economic realm, the United States did have a plan, and the plan centered on the sweeping and simultaneous liberalization of labor and capital markets, reforms in taxation and foreign trade, and the privatization of state assets. The reforms were intended to open up Iraq’s relatively closed state-directed economy and, therefore, improve efficiency in the allocation of resources domestically, as well as to align Iraqi relative prices with international prices in order to expand the country’s consumption possibilities. In an immediate sense, the reforms have succeeded, for Iraq’s economy has now become one of the most open and unregulated in the world. Yet, sustainable gains in output remain elusive, as incoherent reforms have aggravated structural difficulties and cultivated the conditions for their own failure. Keywords: Capital Formation; Reform Process; Brookings Institution; Shock Therapy; International Prex (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-60929-7_10 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan |
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