Iraqi and American officials think Iraq’s ailing economy could get a kick-start from American consumers interested in giving Iraqi-made clothes as Christmas presents…. Mr. [Paul A.] Brinkley [deputy under secretary of defense for business transformation in Iraq], a proponent of the theory that getting Iraq’s state-owned industries back to work will revitalize the economy and lure unemployed Iraqis away from the insurgency, would not comment on discussions 'that are under way with any specific retailers.' …Restarting Iraq’s state-owned companies, regarded by some critics as an inefficient throwback to Saddam Hussein’s era, would be a reversal of the privatization model championed by L. Paul Bremer III, the American proconsul who governed Iraq from May 2003 to June 2004.” (New York Times, Monday)
Exporting mercantilism.
FEE Timely Classic
Why Socialism Failed by Mark J. Perry