Current Events

I knew I shouldn't had gone skying....

 Never mind the return journey to a flooded house through pouring rain, with a soar knee,  in  the old, smelly family van full of farting, fighting and screaming kids, with super irate wife sitting just next to me, but I missed this good blog!   

But hear this: increase in fuel cost will have a direct impact on basic food prices. The bread price will go up by as much as 400%. Then we shall see what starts the revolutions in the first place, the shah's "tyrany" and his "disregard for Islam", or something as simple as price of a barbari Bread! 

@ To the west residing clever clogs with almost perfect English and very misleading avatar: go tell the guys in the long bread que in an Iranian city, let's say Qazvin,, that it is perfectly OK for them to have to all of a sudden pay four time as much for their bread because Shah also had to go to IMF to borrow money, and see what happens to you!

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

تو بلاد آذربایجان نان تافتون گیر نمیاد!

این هم قیمت نان در شهرهای مختلف کشور.  تو تبریز تافتون سرو نمیکنند ولی‌ بربریشون از همه جا ارزون تره! 

Everything is sacred

kiwi-brained idiot: iranian farmers being destroyed by subsidies

guaranteed prices (subsidies) for wheat

به استناد قانون خرید تضمینی محصولات اساسی کشاورزی، دولت هر ساله گندم مازاد نیاز کشاورزان را به نرخ تضمینی خریداری می کند.

subsidies for distribution of flour

از سوی دیگر، به استناد قوانین بودجه سنواتی برای خرید و تبدیل گندم به آرد و نان و نیز تامین یارانه آرد بخشی از اعتبارات بودجه عمومی به یارانه آرد اختصاص می یابد

increase of subsidies between ۱۳۸۰ and ۱۳۸۶

مشاهده میزان یارانه پرداختی به بخش گندم و آرد در فاصله سالهای ۸۰ تا ۸۶ نشانگر این است که میزان یارانه به گندم و آرد در فاصله مذکور به ترتیب ۷۵۰۰، ۱۳۷۵۹، ۱۶۸۵۹، ۷/۱۷۹۰۲، ۲۲۵۲۴، ۲۴۵۷۰ و ۲۴۸۲۲ میلیارد ریال و یارانه کالاها و خدمات اساسی نیز به ترتیب ۹۶۷۷، ۲۱۸۲۹، ۲۸۴۳۶، ۳۶۳۹۷، ۵۱۶۱۰، ۵۶۴۳۴ و ۵۳۰۶۷ میلیارد ریال بوده است.

increase in production of wheat

۲۳ آذر ۱۳۸۸ سازمان خواروبار و كشاورزي ملل متحد(فائو) اعلام كرد كه توليد گندم ايران امسال ۳.۲ تن افزايش يافته و ايران همچنان دوازدهمين توليد كننده بزرگ گندم جهان خواهد بود.

به گزارش ايسنا، فائو در تازه‌ترين گزارش خود با عنوان دورنماي غذايي جهان آورده است كه توليد گندم ايران در سال گذشته معادل ‌۹ ميليون و ‌۸۰۰ هزار تن بود كه با سه ميليون و ‌۲۰۰ هزار تن افزايش در سال جاري به ‌۱۳ ميليون تن خواهد رسيد.

recordbreaking "exportation" of wheat شهریور، ۱۳۸۹

در حالی مقامات وزارت بازرگانی از صادرات ۷۰۰ هزار تنی گندم در ۵ ماهه امسال خبر داده بودند که آمارهای گمرک نشان می دهد، طی این مدت تنها ۹۶ هزار تن گندم صادر شده است. اختلافات آماری بین دستگاههای مختلف معضلی است که از سالها پیش وجود داشته و مورد توجه رسانه‌ها بوده که هنوز دستگاههای اجرایی فکری برای حل آن نکرده اند. در تازه‌ترین آمارها به اختلافی برخوردیم که بین گمرک و وزارت بازرگانی وجود دارد.
تولید گندم در سال جاری به یک رکورد قابل توجهی دست پیدا کرد و از مرز ۱۴.۵ میلیون تن گذشت به طوری که برای اولین بار حجم خرید تضمینی گندم به مرز ۱۱ میلیون تن رسید و طبق مصوبه دولت قرار شد تا مرز ۲ میلیون تن از گندم مازاد کشور صادر شود.
پیش از این حمید علیخانی معاون وزیر بازرگانی در گفت و گو با خبرنگار فارس از صادرات ۷۰۰ هزار تنی گندم ایران تا پایان مرداد ماه سال جاری خبر داده و پیش بینی کرده بود که در ماههای آتی این رقم افزایش یابد.
این در حالی است که بر اساس تازه‌ترین آمار گمرک، حجم صادرات گندم ایران در ۵ ماهه اول سال جاری ۹۵.۹ هزار تن بوده است که با رقم اعلامی معاون وزیر بازرگانی بیش از ۶۰۰ هزار تن اختلاف دارد و لازم است مسئولین وزارت بازرگانی و گمرک در باره این اختلاف آماری توضیح دهند.
به گزارش فارس، صادرات حدود ۹۶ هزار تنی گندم ایران در این مدت به چهار کشور امارات، عمان، هند و ارمنستان صورت گرفته است.
نکته مهمتر اینکه اگر واردات ۶۴۰ هزار تنی گندم (غیردامی) به کشور طی ۵ ماهه را در کنار صادرات ۹۶ هزار تنی در نظر بگیریم، جای تعجب است که علیرغم رکورد بی‌سابقه امسال در تولید گندم، وارد کننده خالص گندم هم به شمار می رویم و بیش از ۵۳۰ هزار تن خالص واردات گندم ایران در سال جاری است

HHH,

Cheap labor sounds good to me to spark productivity. But you know it won't be long before the cost of skilled and trained labor would sky rocket.

norooz,

When the agricultural sector can sell its products at market values, I can guarantee you there won't be a need for welfare social nets. We are empowering them by eliminating subsidies on their final products and they will see immediate income increases.

Ofcourse the same increase will affect other sectors too. I am not worried about our country's producers. The subsidy elimination would benefit them directly ( When we are over with the energy subsidies ) .This program is written to encourage productivity and to reduce energy subsidies.

The non productive segment of the society will become the " service " sector and be the ones who are hit the hardest during this transition. "Going hungry" would be a good incentive for productivity for this segment in my opinion , but that is not what Ahmadinejad is going to do. He even talks about free medicare for all which is a noble idea and it could become a reality with a tremendous savings of 120 billions a year forcasted for Iran ( thats just in energy ). With that much money, you can provide any kind of welfare nets if it becomes necessary.

Its exciting times. If this program is implemented properly, many economical problems would be solved at once.

Copying America IRI-Way

Somehow IRI leaders are assuming that if they copy everything financial happening in America someday Iran will become a superpower.

So they asked their agents in America how much they pay for gas and they copied that price inside Iran!

The difference is the average income within Iran and America. In Iran, other than 5-10% bazaris & government thugs who make millions, the other 90% make, on the average, less than 400,000 toman/month or $400/month. In America the average income for the majority is closer to $2500-3000/month or 6-7 times Iran.

So Iranians from now on have to pay equal to about $19/gallon in America in relation to their income!

Veiled, you wrote,The

Veiled, you wrote,

The point of sanctions is to make people miserable. Then have them blame the IR for it. Leading to unrest and anger. That in time is supposed to result in regime change. If I read this news right it may do just that. You can not survive when prices sky rocket. Therefore sooner or later people decide IR has to go. 

At least that is the theory of what should happen. Whether the approach will work is yet to be seen.

I know that. what I don't know is, how some Iranians approve and support the sanctions knowing the effects? 

Making people miserable?  They will blame IRI?  Leading to unrest? If you read right it just might do that?

That is the whole problem. You are not reading it right!!!

Doosteh Aziz, No Fear,

I wrote, government shouldn't cut the subsidies on necessities, because we don't want people go hungry. Then they take the income from other revenues as i mentioned and invest in this industry. I agree,  It would serve Iranians better if the government pay more and buy from our own farmers than from Canada, New Zealand and other countries for number of reasons. 1- The money will circulate in the country. 2- It creates many jobs. 3- people won't starve if there ever be food sanctions. 4-Country will become more independent.  Soon, when food production increased the prices will come down as competition will set a fair market price on everything and with a little regulations government doesn't have to buy anything and farmers and other privet sectors will do the job.  But to encourage the public first the farmers should make a decent living. Once they have a good income, they can invest in their community and improve everything.  They must be provided with lands to farm or raise animals, build a house and equipments and experts advise to make the efforts easier and much more productive.   

As long as villagers are not supported and government keeps building apartments for low income families in big cities, people will move from villages for a piece of the dream which will have negative affects on agricultural, pollution, population in cities, prices, hunger, crimes and etc.

راننده ها غلط می کنند

این هم یک نوع احتکاره. مستکبرها فکر مي کنند اگر قیمت بنزین چهار برابر شد اینها هم مي توانند کرایه شان را ببرند بالا. به دولت بگویید تا بزند توي سرشان و چند تایی هم دار بزند تا بدانند که با مدیریت اقتصادی دولت هر که در افتاد ور افتاد.  

cutting government subsides

and full privatization goes back to Rafsanjani's era of presidency, these measures by the way were recommended by "IMF" after the war and rebuilding effort began by IMF loans! His admin even brought in and consulted forign adviser to cope with rising bureaucracy which meant  laying off a large number of civil servants, but that's another topic!

اعتصاب و اعتراضات مردمی در پی اجرای طرح یارانه ها

گزارشی از اعتصاب و اعتراضات مردمی در پی
اجرای طرح یارانه ها

خمین:
در پی افزایش بهای بنزین، رانندگان تاکسی درون
شهری در شهر "خمین" واقع در استان مرکزی از
جابجایی مسافر خودداری کردند. رانندگان تاکسی
های برون شهری خط خمین به گلپایگان نیز اعتصاب
کردند.

شیراز:
خبر منتشره از شهر شیراز حاکی است، شمار کثیری
از مردم شهر شیراز نیز که با افزایش شدید بهای
بنزین مواجه شده بودند ضمن تجمع در اطراف پمپ
بنزین های این شهر، اعتراض خود را به افزایش
قیمت ها ابراز داشته و در نقاطی از این شهر
درگیری هایی نیز با ماموران امنیتی رژیم صورت
گرفته است.

کارمانشاه:
از سوی دیگر دستگاه های امنیتی رژیم جهت
مقابله با هرگونه اعتراض مردمی و واکنش سریع
به سرکوب اعتراضات احتمالی، در بسیاری از پمپ
بنزین های سطح شهر کرمانشاه دوربین های مدار
بسته نصب کردند. همچنین نیروهای انتظامی در
تمامی پمپ بنزین ها این شهر مستقر شده اند.

قزوین:
تشکیل صف های طولانی در شهر قزوین نیز موجب
بروز اعتراضات گسترده مردمی گردید. گزارش های
منتشره از تشکیل صف های طولانی در مقابل پمپ
های بنزین، سوپر مارکت ها، نانوایی های این
شهر خبر می دهند. تجمع کنندگان به افزایش جهشی
و چشمگیر قیمت ها شدیدا اعتراض کرده اند.
زمزمه هایی در خصوص اعتصاب در بازار شهر قزوین
نیز وجود دارد.

همدان:
رانندگان تاکسی در همدان نیز در اعتراض به
افزایش 6 برابری قیمت بنزین و سایر حامل های
انرژی اعتصاب کرده، از جابجایی مسافران
خودداری کردند. گفته می شود اغلب آژانس های
تاکسی تلفنی نیز در اعتراض به وضعیت شکل گرفته
اعتصاب کرده اند.

شهرکرد:
افزایش چندین برابری قیمت بنزین و گازوئیل نیز
در شهرکرد موجب اعتراض کامیون داران و صاحبان
تاکسی و خودروهای شخصی گردید. در اقدامی
اعتراضی رانندگان کامیون ها از جابجایی کالا
در این شهر خودداری کرده اند.

تهران:
شامگاه یکشنبه 28 آذرماه در پی اجرای قانون
هدفمند کردن یارانه ها از سوی رژیم، استقرار
نیروهای انتظامی رژیم در محله اتابک شهر تهران
موجب بروز درگیری با جوانان گردید. در نتیجه
این درگیری، ماموران سوار بر یک دستگاه الگانس
نیروهای انتظامی از سوی جوانان معترض خلع سلاح
و خودرو آنان نیز به آتش کشیده شد.

now that's what I call

32 years of incompetent rule!!

what do u expect when you have a bunch of no good, uneducated, and unqualified mullahs ruling a vast, resourceful nation like iran???!

our country is literally floating on oil, and iranians have to get rationed gasoline!!!!!

no one knows how much oil is sold, at what price, to whom, etc...

it has been deliberately so for 31 years, since the destruction of the kharg island terminal which logged the number of barrels, etc.

the mullahs have siphoned off trillions of dollars of iran's petrodollars for their pockets and off shore bank accounts.

the shah's biggest mistake was NOT to renew the oil consortium contract in 1978.....we would not be here now, and khomeini would have been rotting in hell long before 1989....and we would not have even heared of thieves and murderers like yazdi, khamenei, khalkhali, etc  

what a shame 

hamsade ghadimi,

You are wrong to assert the government is protecting the wheat farmers by " guaranteed prices".  When the government buys wheat from our farmer under market value, that can not be considered support. Thats why wheat farmers quit cultivating wheat.

Here is a link of how much the government pays for a kilo of wheat in Iran.

//www.shadegankhabar.blogfa.com/post-49.aspx

Based on the above report, the government pays about 20 cent per kilo to the farmers.

Now when we need to purchase wheat from the world market we buy them from here;

//www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/news/markets/grains/index.html

Without considering the cost of transportation or silo, we pay 38 cent per kilo of wheat when buying it from Canada.

So, Jumbo Dumbo, as you can see, we are screwing our own farmers here. Thats why they started cultivating exotic fruits which they could sell for higher the world market value in Iran.

Eliminating wheat subsidies and giving fair market value to our farmers is the only way we can encourage farmers to wheat production.

Blame it on AIPAC & Israel too! They are in charge of sanctions!

I hate this regime, but I hate our enemies in israel much more. As much as we want this regime to be removed, they want it much more, but not for the same reason. They want to see Iran weaker so they are in charge of the ME.

Our interests are never the same as those of the zionist regime. may they go to hell for ANGOSHT TO KOONEH DONYA MIKONAN! US is in negotiation and they know they got no leverage against Iran, so they are tightening the sanction so Iran gives in to their demand and becomes their subordinate again. They know without Iran in their pocket, they cannot rule iraq and Afghanestan. They want to see Iran weak.

That said, IRI's foreign and domestic policies really suck. They are bunch of thieves who are in charge of government. They don't give a damn about people, as long as they maintain their power. They have destryed the economy and the country. AIPAC/Israel just adds to a bad situation resulting more suffering for people.

What is your alternative? Shah? One is worse than the other for us, but better for Israel and US. AIPAC/Israel has been f***ng with Iran for 3 decades for their own benefits not ours. They are not for democracy. Shah was the best they could offer! What are WE going to do w/ this regime, not AIPAC?

This regime is not going anywhere soon.  

God is in your dell. Now, go ahead and find it! Good luck!

of course, reducing

of course, reducing subsidies (it'll never be eliminated) is not a panacea.  most (if not all) of the big projects in iran is controlled by sepah and ahmadi's cronies (no competition).  they're like haliburton on steroids.  by the cronies, i mean the new power group that is formed of fake academicians (behbahani and daneshjoo spear-heading it).  here's behbahani's website: //www.behbahanigroup.com/  do you know of any college professor who is the c.e.o. of a conglomerate and also a minister in the government.  btw, he does not hold a real phd.  the university of florida he claims he's gone to is in "kingsville" florida.  if you didn't know, hamid behbahani was supposedly ahmadi's advisor when ahmadi was governor of ardebil and was travelling every day to tehran to take phd courses.

they also need to provide amenable conditions for investors (no holocaust speeches, north korean style missile shows, nuclear rookamkoni...).  they're hanging their hats on the hamayesh people to spew propaganda for them here and maybe invest a pittance in iran.

at any rate, the recommendation (request) to cut subsidies by wb or imf still seems to be accurate.

Subsidy cuts are to be part of an overall plan.

Hamsade from the PBS article you provided:

Subsidy reform alone may not solve Iran's chronic economic problems. To improve Iran's overall fiscal health, the government also needs to pursue structural changes and other free market reforms to reduce inefficiencies plaguing state-owned or state-affiliated industries. The government otherwise may still be forced to support key sectors that depend on the state's protection or business.

Increase of private sector investment and security for those investments is another major issue.  As I said earlier when you have a country whose oil revenue is 80% of its economy and that revenue is 100% Government controlled then you are in essence a "subsidized economy" to begin with.

Also Ahmadi's calculation for cash subsidies is like an Isfahani!  He is giving 8000 Toman/person/bread/month which ends up being about 266 Toman/bread/person/day.  This while bread is 310 Toman.  So once again he is short changing people.

Everything is sacred

anon, although i didn't

anon, although i didn't claim it, it sounds logical.  as a pre-condition for technical or financial assistance, wb typically requests governments to resolve certain market distortions (subsidies) which they practice.  this is a link to a power point presentation where it explicitly states iran's request from world bank in streamlining its energy sector (slide #5).  the presentation seems to be result of preliminary work (defining the problem) for such technical (maybe financial) assistance by world bank to iran.

//docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:q-RnJUqv3_YJ:info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/117846/677_1382_sherif_arif.ppt+world+bank+stance+on+subsidies+in+iran&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShGsSQ3m-5DMGWksPlVZuMk8_WWmg9AeJN44-AG4m4d50h713grHcpIKZ2xDhgeaF2FKyaKbfkgm75H8bgcd0RkCtTKqsi9SDLP6g6tBhdnl4hk_Yyrttfhm9LgX-W7T2hTnShn&sig=AHIEtbTRqGWmHTkoaLyxQuqswc80vWEPuw

here's another link mentioning wb's and imf's recommendation (not request) to iran:

"Unlike his two predecessors, Ahmadinejad initially rebuffed proposals for reform by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. But tough economic realities apparently changed his mind. His original proposal called for an even more drastic plan to eliminate subsidies within three years."

//www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/09/irans-subsidies-conundrum.html

Where are the links to World Bank "asking" Iran 2 end subsidies?

World Bank has lended to Iran under the protest by other countries that World Bank "itself" is subsidizing the nuclear ambitions of the Clergy.

Those of you who are suggesting World Bank has "asked" the Islamic Republic to end subsidies, please post couple of links for those claims.

Everything is sacred

دستگيری فريبرز رئيس دانا/arrested after critiquing subsidy cuts

29آذر.اطلاعيه کانون نويسندگان ايران (در تبعيد) درباره دستگيری فريبرز رئيس دانا

//www.roshangari.net/as/sitedata/201012192218...

______________________________________________________________

Fariborz
Raees Dana arrested after critiquing government subsidy cuts

Fariborz
Raees Dana, an economist and a member of Iranian Writers' Association was
arrested on Saturday, December 19, 2010 at his home a few hours after he
criticized the subsidy cuts in an interview with the BBC Persian. The Islamic Republic
of Iran has warned that they would harshly suppress any opposition to their
subsidy cuts.

A
separate report on subsidy cuts will be issued soon.

IASWI
(info@workers-iran.org)

political-economy of " goal-oriented" subsidies!

javan deerooz, are you sure

javan deerooz, are you sure valian made such a statement "dont eat meat?"  i couldn't find any reference.

no fear, as usual you're talking out of your arse.  your claim that "keeping the price of bread low as the mains reason that killed our wheat agriculture" sounds ridiculous.  the price of bread is low because the wheat farmers are being subsidized.  in iran farmers get subsidized inputs and guaranteed prices for their products.  that's why bread is under market value.  production of wheat has continually increased in the past years because of these subsidies.  that tranlsated into 14.5 million tonnes of wheat in 2010 compared to 12 million in 2009.  i'm sorry if you didn't have your head in your arse; but whomever it is, take it out.

hooshang jan, have you heard of human capital? innovation?  capitalism is not the same capitalism of yesteryears when economics was divided into land, labor and capital.  futhermore, this thread is not about captialism vs. socialism, seemingly your favorite topic.

Thanks for correction Javoon

Dear Javoon Deerooz (khoshtip Emrooz) thanks for your correction. I dont know why I always thought it was Hoveyda.

Dear Afshinazad,

Yes I am for real. OK, it was not Hoveyda but Valian who said it. Big deal. I wish Hoveyda had asked that question from some of our poor villagers.

Photos of people lining up to get gas (not gasoline).

//www.mehrnews.com/fa/newsdetail.aspx?NewsID=1213622 

Everything is sacred

Liberals think they know

Liberals think they know everything

They think this is going to help Iranian's rise to remove the regime,these sanctions are going to bring Iran's nuclear (for peaceful purposes-right) down,I doubt it.

No the people are just going to suffer and the regime will not care.People cannot rise if they will be machine gunned into the ground and they know it.But do the liberals in the White house know it?No,it's just too simple for a 'smart person'.Supposedly this is for Human rights,or really just a feel good measure for liberals but the reality is a result of worsened living conditions- in the name of Human Rights.I call it the Clinton-ization of Iran,similiar to the Clinton-ization of Iraq..

Here's what will happen in this disasterous move of ignorance - Iranian's will just blame the USA that they can't drive for the necessitys they need,the rich and the IRG will have no problem with sanctions since they already have Oil money (a unimaginative amount) .This most likely will even lose the support of the younger Iranians who admire the West's innovation and who carry the hope.We are now affecting them DIRECTLY very negatively.Anti American sentiment in Iran will rise as it has.If nothing moves us closer to War with Iran,this is it.

The Religious will consider this their sacrifice for Palestinians,or their 'suffering together' and probably 'like' the idea of the people suffering.This will go on for years,the Iranian middle class will deteriorate slowly.How can we expect them to rise from further embellished poverty? This is the result of itiot liberal American's in charge now of Foreign policy..We should have learned by now that sanctions won't work on hard headed tyranical arab leaders.They won't budge a inch until a gun is in their face.Did liberal's learn? No.

It's their right to continue failed business policies in America but now it's not only affecting American's,Iranian's also..

Some early reactions to the price incraeses in Tehran and Qum

//www.roshangari.net/as/sitedata/201012201314...

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As far as the great recession of 2008: some other views:

Anwar Shaikh- The First Great Depression of the 21 Century

//www.scribd.com/doc/41292782/Anwar-Shaikh-Th...

You have to follow Ahmadi's "logic" on this.

During the presidential debates Ahmadi ridiculed himself on the economy.  He literally became the Ross Perot of Iran! 

His claims of 15% inflation along with bunch of other rosy pictures of the economy became the punch line of many "economic jokes".

Here in this interview he's saying 1) we're increasing the prices by 400% while we're 2) balancing it by giving "cash" to people via their "subsidy cards" and 3) people have to do a little "sarfe jooye (rationining/budgeting). 

If you talk to your family in Iran you know about these "cards" which are the old coupons and not everyone, including retirees, get them or have equal amount in them.

This is Ahmadi's 3 prong attack.  In the best of worlds (Islamic Republic cash subsidy is not an example of the best of worlds) it would be like Government not taking taxes from your pay check and expects you to pay your taxes at the end of the year.  Now human nature will spend it and by the end of the year will "borrow" to pay for it.  That's if you can get a loan and afford it along with other issues.

To make a long story short for Iran, Ahmadi's approach will make poverty more rampant, destroy the middle class and make the inflation sky-rocket. 

Bad economy is nothing new to Iran and Iranians but this will be new low.  In short since Government is making this change via military crackdown and with force and knowing how Iranians have responded in the past, we can ecpect more riots.  If not today but shortly thereafter when the 400% increase sinks in. 

Everything is sacred

This is

a direct result:

• The confrontational approach of IRI against other nations specially West
• The IR lack of foresight in building refineries and energy infrastructure.
• The poor choices for investment. Spend the money on Palestinians and Hizbollah while people are left without anything.
• IR powers stealing all the wealth. Socialism for the rich; capitalism for the poor. Free market is a joke that is played on those stupid enough to believe in it.
• AN in particular's lack of understanding of economy.
• Pressure by USA

IR reminds me of what my grandma used to say: "Asham nadareh eshkeneh; Goozam drakhto mishkaneh". All they are is hart o purt but they cannot even run a damn thing. They have got a free ride for 30 years thanks to oil and what the Shah built. Now their time is up and they will go the hard way.

Let the beast "free"...

I'm not sure if I'm trying to vindicate "capitalism". But in order to move beyond it, we have to enter it first. Past experiences dictate us.

What happened in 2008 was technically a speculative meltdown, which looked liked, walked like, and sounded like a real recession.

Never increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.

"free" market economy?

Let's see, what was the cause of the 2008 Great Recession, bringing on the worse economic crisis of the world since 1928 (the Great Depression) , with no end or relief in sight? It's called  free something? old age is not helping me.

Was it, "SHOCK DOCTRINE" :

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSF0e6oO_tw

or "DISASTER CAPITALISM"

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG9CM_J00bw&feature...

IRI is doing what it has to do

The bottom line is that IRI is cutting people's share of thier natural resources, and spending it on it's forces inside, and outside of Iran to stay in power.

here's a simple math

here's a simple math problem for those who are considering to become energy economists: price of crude oil = $88/barrel (this is what iri gets), 1 barrel = 42 gallons, cost of gasoline = transportation of crude oil to a country with refineries + cost of refining + cost of shipping back to the country without refinery + profit for refinery + distribution cost of gasoline within the country (from port).  heck forget it, let's suppose god himself refines the oil for free.  what's the price of refined oil per gallon?  what's the profit at the gas station per gallon of gasoline?

notes:

1) don't tell me that cost of crude oil is cheaper for iran since their selling price (as opposed to production cost) is $88/barrel; otherwise, i'll give you an f.

2) this simplified problem has nothing to do with sanctions; otherwise, there should be an added transaction cost in the equation for refining.