17 - 23 May 2001
Issue No.534
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 17 - 23 May 2001 Issue No.534 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Cause for optimism
I stopped at a recent statement by President Mubarak in which he declared that we had surpassed the economic crisis that has beset us for so long. For somebody like me, who trusts the president's judgment implicitly without being a specialist in economics, the statement gave cause for optimism. In the middle of all our economic sufferings a declaration of this kind becomes infinitely reassuring because it indicates that what we are now facing comprises a series of problems rather than a fully fledged crisis. There is a huge difference between the two; problems are inevitable and omnipresent while a crisis indicates a major barrier to be crossed.
The main difference between the two concepts, however, has to do with the fact that economies suffering from a crisis, unlike those suffering ordinary problems, must wholly reconsider their economic and political orientations for without radical decisions and major shifts in direction they cannot develop any further. And Egypt as a society is well aware of this, due to our experience with fully fledged crises. So when the president declares that the economic crisis is over this indicates that the suffering which darkens our future prospect is in effect all but wiped out. All we need to do is deal with our problems, and future generations will be spared.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
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