Banking on Baghdad: Financial Change in Postwar Iraq; Strategic Insights, v. 3, issue 5 (May, 2004)
Abstract : April 2004 represents an important milestone in Iraqi history--the one year mark after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime. Assuming the insurrection and increased hostilities surrounding this date will abate, this represents a fitting time to assess the Iraqi government's likely strategy for restoring the country's economic health. That strategy was outlined in January 2004 by central bank governor Sinan Shabibi and finance minister Kamel Gailani. Their vision for Iraq is in accordance with the Bush Administration's neoliberal model and provides substance to some of the vague principles laid down by the Administration in the spring and summer of 2003. The strategy encompasses the creation of: (a) openness and transparency of Iraq's institutions; (b) strong incentives for private sector development; (c) close economic and financial integration with the international community, (d) international standards and best practices; and (e) a social safety net that addresses the needs of all Iraqis. While many factors within this framework will play a key role in the economy's recovery, emphasis on free markets and private sector investment suggest the creation of a viable efficient financial system will be the key to the country's economic recovery. In this regard, a recent United Nations' needs assessment notes that: With a dysfunctional financial system featuring a poorly organized regulatory framework and ineffective institutions, the task of rebuilding a sound and safe modern financial sector in Iraq is daunting. It should start with the banking sector, which is currently the essential component of the financial system and should cover the sector's legal and regulatory aspects as well as its main institutions. This would be a long term process that will require significant resources, technical as well as financial.
The Neoliberal Model's Planned Role in Iraq's Economic Transition / The Middle East Journal
Iraq has been blessed with abundant economic and human resources. It has the second highest proven oil reserves in the world at around 112 billion barrels, after Saudi Arabia with 262 billion barrels. However, despite its wealth, Iraq has experienced continuous economic deterioration since 1980 and has become one of the region's least developed economies. A country that could have been a model of development for the Arab world turned out to be a devastated case of economic decline, mismanagement and massive corruption (Azzam, 2003).
The development of biological systematics : Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu, nature, and the natural system
A reevaluation of the history of biological systematics that discusses the formative years of the so-called natural system of classification in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Shows how classifications came to be treated as conventions; systematic practice was not linked to clearly articulated theory; there was general confusion over the "shape" of nature; botany, elements of natural history, and systematics were conflated; and systematics took a position near the bottom of the hierarchy of sciences.