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October 12, 2004
Entrepreneurship in Iraq
HobbsOnline comments on an AP story that reports on Shiite insurgents in Iraq who are beginning to give up on fighting and turning their energies to earning a living. They are beginning to sell their weapons through government buy-back programs. One that was interviewed, named Kadhim, plans to use this money to start a small business.
"Could it be that good old fashioned entrepreneurialism is what, in the end, stabilizes Iraq? Perhaps. Business owners have a stake in stability. Once he starts his business, Kadhim will find himself wanting the government to do more to crack down on the insurgents that threaten the stability of Iraq. George Bush has said he believes in the transformative power of liberty. Kadhim is reaching out for his freedom to start a business. He may find himself, his city and his country transformed.
Posted October 12, 2004 05:45 AM
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Comments
I think that this is spectacular news. The Iraqi people need opportunities like these if Democracy is ever going to work for them. These people do not know how to think for themselves, when it comes to government. In oil driven economies, the government controls the oil, and everything. Most of the jobs in the country are provided by the government, along with other social institutions. If the Iraqi people start their own businesses, they are breaking away from the support and control of the old government, and can finally see what a Democratic government can provide.
Posted by: George Ward at October 14, 2004 02:11 PM
My brother just came back from Falluja Iraqi and has some interesting stories to tell. In regards to entrepreneurship, the people have become surprisingly adept. My brother had to spend 45$ in shipping to send home the trinkets that he bought. I am now the proud owner of a Rolex (it says perpetual motion, but I have to wind it!). The GI’s have become a serious source of income for the people. They have never really had tourist or any other source of income besides the government. The base there employed over 500 citizens from cooks to janitors, but the real source of money came from the sales to the soldiers by these employees. One told my brother that it was worth “working” on base just to be able to sell. He makes much more on his watches than the government pays.. One fellow that my brother became friends with started a business of selling scrap metal to the US company’s rebuilding Iraq (he follow the unit and took the useable metal off of destroyed vehicles.) His little recycling business is doing very well, to the point that he has hired several per hour employees. He had never been aloud to earn a living before. As one of my brothers newly acquired Iraqi friends put it, the quality of life for the people around him has never been better. Some of that is do to their resourceful entrepreneurship.
Posted by: Daniel B. Rose at October 15, 2004 08:53 AM
at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He consults with a variety of businesses on start-up and growth related issues, and with larger corporations on re-establishing entrepreneurial cultures within their organizations. Dr. Cornwall's current research interests include entrepreneurial finance and entrepreneurial ethics. He has authored or co-authored four books.
