‎⁨اقتصاد ودولة للبنان‪⁩‬

Lebanon is going through the worst crisis in its history.
Even as the crisis was brewing, the usual proposals, out of touch with economic and social reality, kept popping up: move from the rentier economy to the productive economy, specialize in high value-added activities, rely on the high level of education of the Lebanese, wait for revenues from the offshore oil to be discovered, and so on. So many incantation statements of cultivated illusions. The critical and necessary question that needs to be asked, but that has not been asked by all those who pretend to be statesmen: what economy for Lebanon, and what State can lead to such an economy? This is not a technical nor a technocratic question, but an eminently political one.
Lebanon has had four models in the recent history, culminating with the economy of regulated looting and redistribution (1985 until yesterday), which has just collapsed. Actually, the collapse of the public finances and the banking system are consequences of the collapse of the political-economic system, in place since the mid-1980s and institutionalized in the early 1990s. So what economy does Lebanon need to be strong, and what political system is necessary for such an economy?
The book, An Economy and a State for Lebanon, presents various scenarios, various avenues for a small economy, such as Lebanon’s, to function in a productive manner. What is needed is political leadership with a wise and courageous vision, and with the freedom from sectarian handicaps to enact the necessary policies.