Copyright © 2018 by
The American University in Cairo Press
113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt
420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978 977 416 794 2
eISBN: 978 161 797 866 1
Version 1
For Shirin
Contents
Introduction
The Importance of Economic Health
1 The Political Economy of Reform: A Survey with Special Reference to Egypt
Interest Groups, Crises, and Economic Reforms
Political Institutions and Policy Reform
“Tragedy of the Commons” and the Impact on the Environment
The Costs and Benefits of Policy Reforms
The “Insider–Outsider” Conundrum
Political Economy and Dictatorships
The Role of the Foreign Patron
The Political Economy of External Assistance
Foreign Aid to Egypt: Benefit or Bane?
2 Challenges and Performance, 1952–
Population, Labor Force, and Unemployment
Annex: A Note on GDP Estimates
3 The Population and Related Issues
4 Political Economy in the Nasser Period, 1952–
The Cultivable Area: Water and the Aswan High Dam
Changes in the Role of the State in the Economy
5 Political Economy in the Sadat Period, 1970–
Economic Background to the Infitah
Pressures on the Economy and the Riots of
Relations with the IMF and the World Bank
Toward a Strategy to Address Underlying Grievances
