Blog - Center for International Private Enterprise

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Good News for Economic Freedom

During the past year economies around the world became more open - according to the newly released Index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal. Who holds the number 1 spot? Hong Kong (again). "The countries with the most economic freedom also have h...

Some hope in the middle of chaos in Gaza?

Even the most cynical of observers might not have imagined the situation in Gaza could have deteriorated as quickly and as badly as it has. After the initial euphoria over the removal of the settlements and the handing over of control to the Palestinian Authority (PA), we then had the (seemingly)�...

Private Sector as a Political Force in the Gulf

Despite a ban on political parties in the Gulf region, in some countries, such as Kuwait and Bahrain, they are accepted and openly active, though legal restrictions force them to function as NGOs rather than political parties. For example, it is well known that the Association for National Democrati...

To Eradicate or Not to Eradicate? That is the Question.

There has been increased focus recently on the subject of the prevalence of opium production in Afghanistan and the commitment and effectiveness (or lack thereof) of efforts to combat it by both the Afghan government and coalition forces operating in that country. Newsweek magazine recently publis...

Building a Private Sector-based Economy in Iraq

Just came across this brief update on USAID’s activities in Iraq. My impression – they are addressing both short-term, immediate needs of the Iraqi community (water program, for example) and long-term institutional objectives (providing training to business leaders). “We are wor...

On Microfinance in Africa…And Elsewhere

Many discussions on economic development today center on supporting the development of small and medium enterprises. This is understandable, since small business constitutes a very significant share of economic activity in developed and successful transitioning economies. “Think small...

Demographics, Economic Growth, and China

The Economist has an interesting article on declining populations. Clearly, there is a demographic problem (and I was really surprised by some of the numbers), The shrinkage of Russia and eastern Europe is familiar, though not perhaps the scale of it: Russia's population is expected to fall by 22...

Evolving Corporate Governance in China

Since the late 1980s, China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been undergoing a gradual process of transformation and privatization known as gaizhi. The government has reduced its share in smaller SOEs to as little as 10%. It has also introduced new governance mechanisms for both privatized and ...

Tools to Fight Corruption

The U.N. Convention Against Corruption has now entered into force as a result of 38 countries ratifying the convention out of the 140 that have signed the treaty. The Convention, which was adopted by the U.N.'s General Assembly in October 2003 is built on four pillars of prevention and criminalizati...

Gazprom: Investors Wanted

Russian natural monopoly Gazprom is making the headlines again - but this time its not the Russia-Ukraine-EU oil "crisis." This week, Gazprom opened its doors to foreign investors. The result? It now surpassed Wal-Mart and Procter and Gamble to become one of the world's 10 largest companies. ...

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