The Egyptian Economy, 1952-2000: Performance Policies and Issues [Paperback]

Khalid Ikram (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415489954 | ISBN-13: 978-0415489959 | Publication Date: November 27, 2004 | Edition: 1

Interviews with former Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers along with previously unpublished analysis by the World Bank, IMF and USAID provide entertaining and interesting insights into Egypt's economic development policy during 1952 to 2000. Areas addressed include:

* the performance of the Egyptian economy since 1950s
* the factors that have facilitated or retarded economic performance
* the Egyptian authorities approach to economic issues and policy-making
* the chief questions that policy-makers will have to deal with in the next twenty years.

Set apart by Khalid Ikram’s intimate knowledge of the Egyptian policy-makers this book presents a unique account of economic development and policy-making in Egypt during 1952 to 2000.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ikram examines the long-term structural aspects of Egypt’s economy and of economic policy-making from 1952 to 2000. He first presents separate chronological accounts of economic development and policy making on the one hand and growth, productivity, and structural change on the other. He then presents individual chapters focused on balance of payments, foreign exchange, and other aspects of the external sector; public finances; the financial sector and monetary policy; labor force and employment; and poverty and income distribution. He concludes with an analysis of current strategic and institutional issue. --Reference & Research Book News

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

World Bank, USA --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (November 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415489954
• ISBN-13: 978-0415489959
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,976,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding study of Egyptian economy and policymaking, January 12, 2006

By 

Herbert J. Statham (Boston, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Egyptian Economy, 1952-2000: Performance Policies and Issues (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Economies) (Hardcover)

In the 1980s, as a post-graduate student in Middle East studies, I read Khalid Ikram's earlier book Egypt: Economic Management in a Period of Transition (Johns Hopkins University Press). My Cambridge University professor described it as "outstanding." Now Ikram has written another outstanding work.
This book examines economic policymaking in Egypt in the period 1952 to 2000. The book focuses on the more durable issues that policymakers confronted during this period, rather than (to quote Ikram) "on a day to day chronology or on quotidian details." The issues are covered in chapters dealing with investment and productivity, the balance of payments, public finance, the capital market and monetary policy, the labor force and employment, and poverty and income distribution, in addition to three chapters that cover broader issues of political economy.
There is an excellent final chapter on what Egypt needs to do in order to sustain growth in the future, that, in addition to dealing with questions connected with an outward looking strategy provides an in-depth analysis of institutional issues, such as the bureaucracy, the commercial judicial system, the system of taxation, shortcomings in the provision of trained labor, the cost to the environment of economic growth, the constraints imposed by the availability of Nile water, and how the present system of planning and economic management is increasingly being hemmed in by globalization and privatization, and will probably have to be replaced by a more flexible method of indicative planning.
Ikram, a former Director of the World Bank's Egypt department, clearly enjoys unparalleled access to Egyptian policymakers, and the book contains insights from interviews with several Ministers responsible for economic policy. He also quotes from Cabinet studies, as well as from studies by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The book is a veritable tour de force, and I recommend it highly to anyone interested in the development of Egypt and of the Middle East.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, lucid analysis, January 19, 2006

By 

Raymond Lindwall (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Egyptian Economy, 1952-2000: Performance Policies and Issues (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Economies) (Hardcover)

This book is a model of what an interesting country economic study should be. The author has the perfect credentials: a long association with Egypt, a previous book on the subject, access to the leading Egyptian economic policymakers, access to the data bases and analyses of the World Bank and the IMF (as director of the World Bank's Egypt department) sound training in economics (affiliation with Cambridge and Harvard Universities), and the ability to write fluently. The book, therefore, is informed by acute technical analysis and pertinent personal anecdote. Excellent.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read book on Egyptian economy, January 4, 2006

By 

Middle East specialist (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Egyptian Economy, 1952-2000: Performance Policies and Issues (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Economies) (Hardcover)

This book presents a unique view of economic development and economic policymaking in Egypt during the period 1952 to 2000. A university professor, I have also worked as a consultant for the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, USAID, and a number of private companies on economic issues facing the Middle East, and have been struck by the paucity of good country analyses and discussions of policymaking that were available. In part this appeared to result from inadequate data, in part because from a lack of understanding of policymakers' motivations, and perhaps in part from a lack of sustained work in these countries.
"The Egyptian Economy, 1952-2000" goes far to fill all these gaps in the context of Egypt. The analysis of the basic economic areas -- investment, savings, productivity, foreign trade and payments, external assistance, labor and employment, poverty, income distribution, etc -- is impressive. In addition, and what adds tremendous value to the book, is the discussion of the dynamics of policymaking, drawing on Ikram's 30-year association with Egypt and his probably unique access to the data bases as well as the thinking both of Egyptian policymakers and of the major Western financial supporters of Egypt. There is also an absolutely excellent discussion of the institutional and strategic issues that Egypt must deal with in order to sustain growth in the future. This is an outstanding work, and let us hope that similar ones are produced for other Middle East countries.