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September 19, 2007
In Defence of Wealthy Royals and Against Monopoly
I was seduced by this item noted via our News Room on the Moroccan Monarchy & the King's wealth to make a long comment in defence of a wealthy royalty (or as an observation that the criticisms were wrong headed in a typical wooley headed Left way) but against Monopoly - as a good Liberal that I am.
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Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:42 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 28, 2007
Economic Policy & Lessons for Maghreb: The pain in Spain will follow years of rapid economic gain
Although not directly MENA related, this is worthy of quick attention as it shows someone besides Hogan going for painful punditry, although with an underlying point, and because Spain is beginning to have a truly important influence in the North Africa - essentially Maghreb - region on an economic basis. As well, I would add, to a limited extent on a political basis.
So, here it is The Groan Worthy: The pain in Spain will follow years of rapid economic gain
Posted by The Lounsbury at 04:50 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 17, 2006
MENA Trade, Business Culture & Americans
While I confess this note is in part motivated by my desire to have an excuse to share this cartoon from the Moroccan business daily, l'Economiste from yesterday's - 16 Aug edition. This was emailed to me yesterday, and is worthy of a good laugh, I thought it also worthwhile to undertake some reflexions on both the subject matter and some generalisations about practical issues.
The text, by the way, reads roughly, "Let's go, don't be so timid." I presume everyone gets the allusion.
The subject matter is the fairly substantial non-impact of the much ballyhooed - in US circles - and much feared -in Maghrebine circles- Free Trade Agreement with the United States.
Utterly unsurprising, I may add, despite the rather overdone expectations on the American side (based on painful conversations with earnest American officials I have had from time to time) and fears on the Maghrebine side (who delusionally feared the US was going to come in and buy everything. If only.)
Continue reading "MENA Trade, Business Culture & Americans"
Posted by The Lounsbury at 12:48 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
July 21, 2006
On lighter matters
I just caught what may be the queerest combination of music I have heard to date (that still merits the name music, meaning leaving aside the horrible clownish screeching that Cairo studios put out): Ragga-Rai.
Think a combination of Rai a la (ex-Cheb) Khaled and Shaggy.
Odd but compelling in a queer way.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:39 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
July 18, 2006
Transparency, FDI & Foreign Groups - Counterintuitive Observations
An amusing side note to distract from the Lebanon hysteria that is sucking us all in.
I'm presently doing research on North African financial groups for a potential new piece of business (my idiot whankers back on the other side of the Atlantic still not grasping the lack of transparency that renders any given piece of research in MENA twice as hard at minimum than in the developed world).
It has been amusing so far to find that despite all our talk in sector about how foreign groups bring best practices, better governance and more transparency, that in the Maghreb -comparing like to like, i.e. listed to listed- the locals are actually rather better about publishing their financial reports than the French groups(*). Never mind site functionalities. Not really surprising, if one knows French banks, but provides a bit of nuance to easy talk about FDI and benefits. Not, mind you, that I am against FDI and all things being equal foreign groups usually do raise standards....
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Posted by The Lounsbury at 08:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 18, 2006
Hot News: Egypt urges greater Arab integration
I am beginning to have a sensation that someone needs to send William Wallis of FT some news clippings before he writes more .... well waste of time articles such as this one Egypt urges greater Arab integration.
I suppose a short brief might be merited, but a full length arty? We have little enough proper news reporting on MENA economic issues, do we really need to waste valuable space repeating tired and worn out Egyptian attempts to distract from their domestic crises?
Posted by The Lounsbury at 04:04 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 12, 2006
My Man Muammar
Say what you will, Muammar has a flair for gestures.
Something I have to blog about, when I get a chance is this fine piece of theatre:
- Adviser points to Libya's 'old guard' as block to reform
- Words to Gadaffi on rebranding Libya
- New blueprint for overhaul of Libyan economy
A real panache for the absurd. Now, I like Porter. I like Muammar. But this is a fine bit of theatre of the absurd.
I am sure Porter thinks the effort is serious. But I wouldn't bet my Green Book on this.
Strategy consultations in the context of the Libyan system of governance are... well they are about as meaningful as "party building" advice the US government gives to meaningless little whanker "political parties" in the region.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:48 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
November 13, 2005
Maghreb, how it is different, Media
One will not see on prime time in the Machreq a special on their Jewish heritage on the national heritage, and certainly not on the universality of the lessons between the Jewish and Muslim religions.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 11:03 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
November 07, 2005
On France, interim comment
I am afraid that my further commentary on this issue - of deep interest to me due to its Maghrebine connexions and profound longer term implications - is on hold for the moment, I have two conference calls with the United States scheduled this evening and a metric fucking ton of bloody revisions to a completely messed up technical translation to effect.
(Bloody translators, however inefficient it is to use my time on this, they're so fucking incompetent there is little other choice but have polishing).
In the interim I would like to direct you to Dave Schuler's blog (whose name irritates me but I am an irritable fellow then, am I not?) who has, thanks to literacy in the Language of Moliere, had reasonable commentary and updates.
I intend to return to plunge into this from my perspective looking across the Med and my connexions with the Franco-Maghrebine business community - it should I hope be of utility, at least far more so than that blithering idiot Totten and his typically illiterate blundering commentary.
When, of course, depends on rather more immediate interests, like my greed.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 04:57 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack
September 26, 2005
Gulf Finance, Booms & Inefficiencies
Our friend and sometime contributor Waterboy draws attention to something obvious to all involved, and yet an item that remains out of control: overliquidity in the Gulf region and the consquent mad asset price boom in the Gulf. His observation is spot on, that there is
there's too much cash chasing too few investment opportunities in the region; too little oversight, regulation or transparency; too much exuberance - bear in mind, as Japanese bank Nomura pointed out, that Saudi Telecom's market capitalisation of US$74bn is worth more than BT (US$35bn), AT&T
(US$15bn), SK Telecom (US$15bn), and Telekom SA (US$9bn) combined - and far too many unsophisticated investors who think that having the names of a couple of ruling family members in the IPO prospectus is a valid alternative to a business plan - or, for that matter, an existing business.
No doubt about this at all. Some conversations I had over the past week painfully illustrated that. This aside, a key point of disequilibrium is the degree to which despite the asset valuations in the Gulf being absolutely looney to the point of surreal, the money is not flowing within the region to a reasonable degree.
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Posted by The Lounsbury at 04:59 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 05, 2005
On Sex & MENA: The Local Porn Industry
I have a longish reflection on this very subject, and on the issue of prostitution, general dress and the like. It needs editing (and has for months), but this week's report in La Gazette, a mainstream weekly, and some observations I made this weekend while shopping in my tres chic office-shopping mall complex provoke me to a small interim observation:
First, of course, I am not surprised that the article I cited, entitled "L’industrie du film X au Maroc" was published, given recent scandals in Agadir and hints of the same in Marrakech. Poverty combined with lack of opportunity combined with vast wealth differences always produces these kinds of things (although that has nothing perhaps to do with the Euro porn stars cited as having come to Marrakech).
I should note that the physical version of this article is rather more graphic and rather longer.
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Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:12 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
August 11, 2005
Market Madness or Brilliance? US Gov Private Equity for MENA Announced (cross from Aqoul main)
At the risk of descending into flackery or something approaching it, I thought a brief comment here might be fun.
OPIC BOARD APPROVES $75 MILLION FOR MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA FUN
Certainly this plays into my personal interests. (and in this cross post I indulge in them)
Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:22 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
August 01, 2005
How (Not) to Execute Meaningful Privatisation Policy
I found this morning, despite being rather dead due to perhaps a bit too much scummy extracurricular sportingness, and a terrible weekend being surprised by a face to face with some fuqaha as part of the ongoing transaction to close the Apartment Plus Joint Venture, myself a bit upset with policy issues.
The Moroccan government, in all its (non-)brilliance announced that it was selling off the State sugar refineries in block (good thing) to the King's holding company in a rather peculiar result from the international tender it ran.
Continue reading "How (Not) to Execute Meaningful Privatisation Policy"
Posted by The Lounsbury at 03:21 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 13, 2005
Banks, Banks and Drooling Morons
I am pleased to announce that the general strike in the banking sector has, in the interest of protecting the opporessed wage slave comrade bankers from (gasp) working an extra half hour, succeeded. The whinging cowards that run this country have backed down in the spectre of unionised bankers in bad pinstripe suits taking to the barricades over the burning issue of wage slavery (yes, wage slavery) in the sector, as suggested by the evil plot to re-arrange working hours.
Continue reading "Banks, Banks and Drooling Morons"
Posted by The Lounsbury at 11:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 05, 2005
General Strike, Bankers
Well, today we have something that has to strike any good Anglo Saxon as bordering on the surreal. A general strike declared by the bankers or rather the union that represents the bankers (this being a Code Civil country, we have unions for just about every possible profession, no matter how useless or surreal).
This on the pretext that the adoption of normal banking hours represents �slavery� � yes slavery. Indeed it is slavery to have one�s work hours changed from the highly theoretical 8 to 12:30 � 14:30 to 18:00 to the no doubt equally theoretical 8:30 to 12:30 1:15 to 5:00. A trivial change which merely reduces the Sacred and Inviolate Lunch hour, in theory, from 2 hours to 45 minutes, but lets one out earlier.
So, the Trade Unions have declared strikes to fend off this evil �Anglo Saxon� intrusion into the �social order� which represents a new form of �slavery� for the oppressed � yes oppressed! � bank wage labourers. These poor Financial Sweat Shop slaves will have a reduced opportunity to disappear for many hours during the day.
Speaking from experience, the real Sacred Lunch Pause runs from Noonish through to 15:00, as a bit of padding on either side is considered �established practice� � you know it would slavery, absolute slavery I say, to expect the poor oppressed Financial Sweat Shop labourers to say pick up their fat kids from the private schools ( a colleague informed me gravely � only her wearing the latest French fashion of rather transparent linen allowed me to not laugh as I was otherwise somewhat distracted by the Mediterranean region tendency to having frontal space � that �not everyone can afford a maid to pick up their children from school.�) and feed them the latest pastries and other plumpness inducing rot.
Now perhaps I am an evil purveyor of the vague conspiracy called �The Washington Consensus� but I think presently rebaptised, �the Neo Liberal Agenda� or some such rot, but I was unable to shake the sense of utter surrealism involved in this farcical revolt against what is in the end a fairly trivial adjustment of working hours. It does illustrate my utter contempt for the organised �labour movement� in the MENA region and its leftist twit moron allies in the West who eat up the posturing agitprop without a second thought.
Fine slogans, but in reality they represent nothing but cynical posturing.
Rather reminds me of the Academic Left�s howling when the CFA, the French backed African franc had to devalue (something like 50 percent as I recall). Much commentary was made at the time (early 1990s) about the evils of the Washington Consensus, how this was going to impoverish Africans, the evils of higher costs of pharma products, etc. Tear jerker stories.
A few points emerged from looking at this hysterical, ill-informed and largely wooley headed liberal arts student, graduate or otherwise, driven bleating.
First, it was largely driven by the largely westernised urban �intellectual� elites ( I mean that in the proper sense of current income elite) complaints, who such people (even if they pretend otherwise), largely speak to or are influenced by. This is not to accuse anyone of bad faith, quite the contrary. Being an economist or economically trained businessman, I rather prefer to leave aside morality in these conditions and look at interests.
What, then, would be the interests? An (artificially) overvalued currency is an implicit subsidy to those consuming foreign goods and services, as well as of course importers of capital. It is an implicit penalty to domestic producers of any kind (services, basic goods, whatever).
Well, enough on this.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 04, 2005
On Intellectual Property and Clueless American Git Lawyers (updated)
As I suspect this is too collounsbury for Aqoul, plus must keep my charming side up (ah yes as an aside to lawyerly readers - or one rather - I got the note on the fund issue will reply asap):
Recently I was at a consular event with the charming and dear British club (named after the charmingly porky Churchill) in its charmingly archaic setting, where I had the occasion (I should say the misfortune were I not entertained by the opportunity) to chat with the wife (or lover or some such) of a financial sector contact, a somewhat slump shouldered blonde from the Carolinas (or something like that, I confess my Anglo heretic ancestry and hundreds of years of well founded yanqui contempt for the South leads me to regard the entire southern United States as a backwards swamp of cretins. I can only say that spending a decade as the off and on intimate companion of that rare creature, a black female American bank vice president of Southern extraction only reinforced these prejudices [not in re her, she and her husband are excellent friends of mine to this day]).
The woman turned out to be a lawyer. Pity that, but we can not hold all sins against everyone one. Worse, she turned out to have worked with both my former employer and the clumsy market destroying imbeciles of Monsanto, and she is a specialist in intellectual property. Worse yet, she worked on the bio-engineering issues that I worked on, in the more business end.
I can only say that meeting an attorney who once worked on the benighted market killing legalistic narrow minded scum managed Monsanto�s efforts in genetic engineering provoked me a bit. Worse yet, she claimed to be a �true believer� in intellectual property rights (i.e. a short sighed economically illiterate hack for the market destroying morons).
This provoked a somewhat gauche and unpleasant conversation on IP rights in the region and what I politely called the �rude American idiocy of forcing things beyond any commercial rational.� I believe, if I recall my own inopportune turn of phrase, that in response to her sally re business opportunities (for her benighted American law driven views on IP law) in pharma sector IP rights that it would be �disastrous� and �fucking bloody counterproductive� to sue local firms on pharma doubtful IP infringements (the local market is not known to be a major scofflaw, and follow Euro standards in general) since you end up automatically the bad guy or as I put, �What kind of fucking market do you build suing the impoverished for a percentage? There is no fucking market upside.�
Fucking lawyers. I ranted on (to her evident discomfort, but the bitch only speaks Southern English, not even local languages, I certainly hope she is a good fuck else she is a liability for my amigo � bastard bloody well should not be associated with idiotic market killing Rich Americans sueing impoverished locals) about how lawyers never looked at realistic cost-benefit analyses on pushing suits, above all in re �total cost� to market. Fucking Monsanto followed people like her and fucking blew up the motherfucking gen modified market through their lawyer driven strategy. IPO rights are a social convenience for promoting innovation, not a divine right, and the smart firm in socially sensitive sectors with public policy and PR issues is sensitive to this.
But this idiotic bitch wants to bring American style �super� IP law to the MENA market. I am afraid I was quite rude (despite her intimate connexion with someone I like and respect in my field) about how stupid she was.
Fucking idiot lawyers. ( I note for my readers and in particular certain who I know that this, is aimed at the � well you know who you are and what I am saying. I also despise ignorant empty lawyer bashing, but I think we can agree that this sort of idiocy we mutually despise as counterproductive.)
Now, returning to a bit more substantive reflexion. Property rights are indeed important, and intellectual property rights as well. However, there are always trade offs. Certainly the idiot mentioning in particular enforcing pharma rights rather set me off as if she knew the least thing about international property rights developments, she would know that the Big Pharma companies broke their noses stupidly going after South Africa on this kind of issue (in that instance AIDS drugs), where a softer, less litigatious approach would have served them far better. Bad PR has a cost, above in this kind of business.
Posted by The Lounsbury at 05:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
