Soapbox:

No need for another agency

By Doha Abdelhamid

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The global economic crisis is haunting us just as hard as the next country. And the best way to deal with it is to think outside the box. Maybe use a bit of good governance, try our hands at some serious transparency, or at least stamp out corruption?

But, judging at least by what I read in the papers, I don't see much of this happening. We may be hard pressed to reform our democracy, improve the skills of our public servants, and straighten up the bureaucracy. But we're not doing this. What we're doing, according to a recent news report, is that we're thinking of setting up a national employment agency.

Who needs such an agency? Don't we all know that the government has more employees than it needs? Indeed, our public service apparatus is one of the biggest in the world, and by far the least productive. So why do we need to start a new government- run agency that is bound to bring more people into government service? Haven't we had enough?

This whole employment thing can be dealt with the old way, in which case things will get worse, or the smart way, which is what everyone else is doing. In the age of computers, the Internet is the best matchmaker between business and job applicant. Those who need jobs can simply surf the net for a post that suits them.

Sure, I know that not everyone is computer savvy. In England I saw employment agencies on every corner. They are small and efficient and privately run. These agencies advertise jobs for a fee and then help applicants find a job suitable to their background and needs. We can have such agencies in Egypt. We don't need another government-run mammoth.

* The writer is a professor of finance at the American University in Cairo.