Hand power to regulatory authorities

As part of Executive’s ‘10 Ways to Save Lebanon’ issue, we asked leading figures from a range of fields to put the case for one major changes for the country. In this article, Executive’s MENA business editor Thomas Schellen argues for better — and more independent — regulation. A vacuum in the wrong place causes all sorts of disturbances. In numerous segments of Lebanon’s governance system, development has been obstructed by regulatory vacuums. Instituting a culture of independent and fully accountable regulatory authorities is a way to address deep-rooted deficiencies in economic policymaking and generate positive impulses for economic well-being that far exceed the direct areas of responsibility under their control. The benefits of proper regulation are well documented. In the 1990s, World Bank researchers found a strong causal relationship between good governance and development outcomes, such as incomes, infant mortality and literacy. Since that time, the worldwide governance indicators (WGI)