Economics & Policy articles

Drug money

December 31, 2020 on , , , , by

Drug money

December 31, 2020 on , , , , by

What a difference in perception a year makes – especially this year of 2020, and especially in all matters concerning health, directly or indirectly. Let’s assume – very reasonably – that you were cleaning your hands a few times a day at about this time in late 2019. Were you to have been engaging in…

How long will the lights stay on?

December 31, 2020 on , , by

The current state of the energy sector in Lebanon is worrying. Daily power cuts coupled with Electricite du Liban (EDL)’s chronic budget deficit, which has contributed to more than half of Lebanon’s public debt, makes it clear why reforming the sector is a top priority for the international community, and why it cannot be separated…

The untold story of the last 12 months

November 2, 2020 on , , , , , by

Lebanon is not a country by any easy definition. Whatever your preference in terminology, when talking about a community of people in terms of country or nation there are classic denominators involved that are either geographic, or social and cultural, but always framed as coherent and continuous. But Lebanon? Territorially, linguistically, historically, religiously, ethnically, even…

UNESCO tackles physical, psychological and systemic educational challenges

October 28, 2020 on , , , by

UNESCO began coordinating school rehabilitation efforts after the massive port explosion in Beirut on August 4th. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) has requested UNESCO to lead a wide international effort to coordinate the rehabilitation of public and private schools in the Beirut governorate. In this role, UNESCO will be coordinating partnerships, finance,…

The search for Lebanon’s new diaspora

October 28, 2020 on , , by

Two months after the Beirut blast and one year into political and economic disruptions of local identities, the people of Lebanon are finding themselves divided in yet another invisible way. Some of the better-to-do individuals and families are proclaiming ‘never again’, and mean that they already have, or are seeking, to emigrate; their economic realities…

Executive Magazine’s September/October issue

October 21, 2020 on , , , , , by

Dear stakeholders in Lebanon’s return, dear friends with discerning minds, and all readers of Executive, We are proud to present you with the best-ever socioeconomic issue of Executive Magazine at this decisive moment for our country’s social and economic development. Our September – October 2020 issue is available to read online or for download and…

Q&A with legal expert Paul Morcos on judicial capacity and accountability

August 20, 2020 on , , , , by

They are somewhat remote issues from the perspective of daily survival in the summer of 2020. But the questions of financial accountability and judicial processing of the complex aspects of the corrupted system and adequate prosecution of corruption are pregnant with implications for Lebanon’s systemic networks of fiefdoms, sublime tribal rulers, and previously extra-judicial interest…

Q&A with economist Freddie Baz on Lebanon’s economic survival

August 20, 2020 on , , , by

In discussing Lebanon’s economic survival, some local opinion makers and economists have been making nothing but dire predictions since the fourth quarter of 2019. Executive wanted to take the perspective of Freddie Baz, a Lebanese economist, banker, and citizen who has for over two decades been a regular interlocutor of this magazine on banking and…

Executive Magazine’s July/August issue

August 19, 2020 on , , , , by

It has been just over two weeks since the deadly Beirut Port explosion that killed at least 180, injured over 6,000, and left over a hundred thousand without homes. The impacts of this horrific event are still unfolding. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Lebanon’s most recent sit rep on…

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