2006

North Korea’s nuclear test should remind the world that what counts in politics is results rather than rhetoric. Especially since the “Axis of Evil” speech of January 2002, the Bush …

Beirut Gate, the $600 million Abu Dhabi-financed real estate development in Solidere, is going ahead as planned. How quickly and successfully it does so will be a confidence test for …

Those who predicted that the towering, luxury residential developments in the BCD and its immediate environs would become a sad testament to unbridled optimism and crushed potential had better think …

We have spoken at great length, and on several occasions, in these pages about the Gulf capital markets and equities in particular. Twice, in the last quarter of 2005, we …

Toufic Dalal, owner of Dalal Steel Industries, is at his desk at 06:00 everyday. Today, his desk is a four-room office in a building he owns on Makhoul Street off …

In early July 2006, Liban Lait, Lebanon’s largest dairy farm, was witnessing an unprecedented growth spurt. “At the beginning of July, the market was booming; we had a peak in …

The recent Lebanon war could be interpreted at many levels, but perhaps its most significant impact was how it came to damage Lebanon’s capitalist culture—a culture of openness, relatively unhindered …

A Clinton strategist famously coined the phrase, “it’s the economy, stupid.” His boss was commander-in-chief of the strongest army on the planet. No economy within a truly democratic system can …

Although in many ways, industry was less affected by the month-long conflict with Israel than other sectors, it faces one of the most challenging recovery processes. Speaking with Executive in …

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) warned that, as a consequence of the recent conflict, Lebanon’s 2006 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could shrink by some 10%, taking the national debt of …