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Alternative Indicator: The G(raffiti)DP
Stan Alcorn Mar 28, 2012
The numbers are bad: Unemployment is at 9.2% after rising for three straight months. Goldman Sachs cut its GDP growth forecast from 2% down to 1....
Free Zones: A Tale of Two Economies
Dash Wasserman Nov 3, 2011
Think one economy is hard enough to regulate? Try Two. In the U.A.E., so-called "free zones" allow foreigners to set up businesses for nominal fe...
A New Oprah Rising in the Middle East
Dash Wasserman Nov 3, 2011
This may come as a surprise, but television designed to make the world a better place is still possible. Amira Al Fadl is a charismatic interview...
How Much? The Costs of Economic Security
Dash Wasserman Nov 3, 2011
For Emiratis, getting a cushy government job is the easy and preferred choice. In fact, the government provides amble benefits with little work. ...
A Private Sector for the Public Good in Egypt
Dash Wasserman Nov 3, 2011
The World Bank may not have anticipated the Arab Spring uprisings, but they claim to have a plan for the future. They've announced billions of do...
My Visit to Another Planet
David Brancaccio Nov 3, 2011
As a kid during the Apollo project, I very much wanted to walk on the moon, or even better, another planet some day. I seem to have just missed N...
Oasis or Mirage? The Costs of a Sustainable City
Dash Wasserman Nov 3, 2011
Masdar City sounds like a utopia. Located in the deserts outside Abu Dhabi, the capital of the U.A.E., it was envisioned as the world's first car...
Building Community in Cairo's Satellite Cities
Dash Wasserman Nov 3, 2011
In Egypt's capital, good affordable housing isn't just a concern -- It's a demand. While Cairo's swelling population clings to the Nile, some Egy...
In Egypt, Affordable Housing is the Price of Love
Dash Wasserman Nov 3, 2011
Think affordable housing is just a matter of number crunching and government regulation? How about sex?
OK, so maybe not just "sex," but in Egy...
Hernando de Soto on the Middle East's 'Informal' Revolution
Stan Alcorn Mar 28, 2012
Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto is best known for the big, paradigm-shifting idea of his 2000 book: The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Tr...
