Fears that the nation’s economy may be heading for the rocks prompted 57 of Iran’s best-known economists to publish an open letter to Ahmadinejad, warning that his policies were making for disaster. The letter, circulated and widely discussed throughout the country, forced Ahamdinejad to invite the signatories to a debate.[Hat tip: Instapundit]
In the event, some 40 economists turned up but there was no debate. Instead, Ahmadinejad treated them to a gallimaufry in which obscurantist religious beliefs were mixed with half-understood economic concepts. He told the critics that his administration feared no economic meltdown for two reasons. The first was that the “Hidden Imam” would not abandon “the world’s only truly Islamic regime,” at a time it faced a war with the American “Great Satan.” The second was that the government was launching a massive privatisation programme to raise billions of cash.
The economists had no comment about the role that the “Hidden Imam” might play in the Iranian economy. But they were critical of Ahmadinejad’s privatisation programme that they described as “a cover for bestowing free gifts on a few hundred individuals.” The privatisation programme has been debated for a decade.
Update: Of course, this might have something to do with Iran's economic problems:
Iran pays $1 billion to Syria and offers nuclear help to stop it talking peace with Israel
Technorati Tag: Ahmadinejad and Iran.
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