THE END OF HISTORY WON'T SKIP PERSIA:

Iran's economic self-mutilation (Hossein Askari, 8/26/08, Asia Times)

[I]n Iran, economic justice has taken on even more significance because Islam unambiguously asserts that poverty is the result of waste, extravagance and denying what rightfully belongs to the less fortunate members of society.

This position is illustrated by the famous Prophetic saying, "Nothing makes a poor man starve except that with which a rich person avails in luxury." The eradication of poverty and the pursuit of economic and social justice is, without a doubt, the second-most important duty for an Islamic state, second only to the preservation and propagation of the faith, whose own existence is considered to be threatened by poverty. Yet, despite the best of intentions, Iran has totally failed in its pursuit of this noble goal. [...]

Iran's economic failures have been largely of its own making. Overcome by revolutionary fervor after 1979, the government nationalized much of the private sector, handcuffed what was left of the private sector with populist regulations intended to help the disadvantaged, adopted wasteful subsidies in the name of economic justice, did not nurture efficient institutions, including the rule of law, did not strengthen the national tax system, limited foreign competition and adopted inconsistent macroeconomic policies.

The results have been predictable: slow economic growth, high unemployment, high inflation, a stagnant non-energy export sector, waste, pervasive corruption, and growing income and wealth disparity resulting in economic injustice.

While the government has adopted well-intentioned initiatives, they have been too little, too late and ill-conceived, with the end result that the disadvantaged suffer and the government's credibility in its pursuit of economic prosperity is rapidly evaporating.

In order for Ayatollah Khamenei to save the Republic he has to punt Mahmoud and get reformers into place.

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Posted by Orrin Judd at August 25, 2008 8:26 AM