At its core, regulation is about freedom to do business. Regulation aims to prevent worker mistreatment by greedy employers (regulation of labor), to ensure that roads and bridges do not collapse (regulation of public procurement), and to protect one’s investments (minority shareholder protections). All too often, however, regulation misses its goal, and one inefficiency replac
Read More
A typical Iraqi individual From the outset, let me say that I am an Iraqi in every sense of the word. My one goal in life was to pursue a career in energy as a petroleum engineer and serve my country. Despite several setbacks in my younger years, I secured my dream job, but it came at a cost. In 1971, I was sentenced to death in absentia on trumped-up charges that led to
Read More
ABSTRACT This paper surveys the history of the oil industry with a particular focus on the events associated with significant changes in the price of oil. Although oil was used much differently and was substantially less important economically in the nineteenth century than it is today, there are interesting parallels between events in that era and more recent developments.
Read More
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The COVID-19 pandemic continues across the world, and in Iraq the number of cases is rising. As of 30 June 2020, the World Health Organization reported 49,109 cases in Iraq, with 1,943 fatalities. Since March, the government has been enforcing movement restrictions and curfews to help slow transmission of the virus. As the livelihoods of many people have be
Read More
Iraq's With the Western-leaning, reformist agenda of Iran President, Hassan Rouhani, neutered by the unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018, hardline groups led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have been able to gradually recoup all of their previous power and influence, and more. The additional part has been a defi
Read More