VIEW

People also forget that under

the current regime of the incompetent goons, oil production in iran is 3rd of what it was during the "shah-e khaaen" times.....You people crack me up when you try to put lipstick on the (islamic)  pig....bwa ha ha ha 

Here's one of your funny passages: 

"And still, despite war, sanctions and emigration, Iran's infrastructure and industrial development has improved greatly."

____________

IRAN FIRST

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Oil prices

People forget that 10 years ago oil was selling for less than $20 a barrel. People also forget that much of the oil revenue has to be re-invested in the industry.People also forget that, in order to preserve reserves, oil production has been reduced in line with the OPEC quota. People also forget that the oil & gas sector has been under sanctions.

And still, despite war, sanctions and emigration, Iran's infrastructure and industrial development has improved greatly.

shushtari

shushtari jan,

It's because theyve brainwashed people into a culture that only does 2 things:

1. Hates others (US, Israel, jews, britain, bahais, anybody but ommat-e islam)

2. has made it a crime to question Islam, let alone defy it (even if it means destroying our own identity). As Jannati just said, "dismissing Velayat Faqih is like denying the existence of God".

one must wonder

where are the figures for the oil export revenues for the past 31 years- why is it that the akhoonds have never repaired the counters at kharg island? why is it that no one has the balls to ask these thieves where is the trillions of dollars of oil revenue during all these years

forget the brain drain, the mullahs are robbing iran blind.....during the shah's reign, all these figures were transparent and in reports for everyone to see!    

Fesenjoon...

anytime one brings up "free market economy" it generally means little to no government and no interference of any sort.  So even those that say that regulation should exist(who advocate free market capitalism) always cry when that regulation is too overbearing in their minds.  They try to have it both ways.  Zak is another tool of the system.  

Comrade

You raise important points.  There is a judiciary, and law enforcement, though not the kinds you feel are necessary.  Regulation doesn't have to deal with criminal behavior, but only behavior that regulates(fines, cease and desist orders, etc, or else face some sort of sanction).  This suggests that as a minimum, what is necessary is that law enforcement understand what I am doing and follow through with any sanctions such an agency attempts to use.  With reference to criminal behavior, the regulatory agency can forward information to the judiciary and let them take it from there.  It can work, but the problem is that even my agency is ultimately not responsible to the people(much like taxation without representation, etc etc).  I'll do my best to share everything I can with the public, but being proactive in an authoritarian system can backfire big time(riots and such...liberal programs and institutions already cry of "abuse" in democracies), so the government may not allow me to do this to begin with.  

Nonsense

Except that Iran is leading scientific progress:

//www.newscientist.com/article/dn18546-iran-s...

And is 13 places higher up the Human development index than Turkey

//www.undp.org/publications/hdr2010/en/HDR_20...

Also, Iran does have the 2nd largest reserves of gas but the United States blocks all attempts to export Iranian gas via pipelines to Europe and India. Also, Iran has to spend almost as much money maintaining production of oil than using it for other purposes. That is true of many "oil-rich" countries.

DarkJaws

Yes. I dont think even Paul Zak himself (a PhD from Wharton @ Penn) even thinks of a free market economy in the unregulated sense. He's talking in general terms.

Of regulations and cronyism

I can only wish you the best, Payam. However, I wonder how you can enforce your regulatory system in the absence of modern judiciary and trained law enforcement agencies.  

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

Good article BUT

Let me inform you of a few errors of judgment in your piece first:

Neuroeconomics is a flawed field to make ultimate judgments(they ignore societal choices and focus only on individual choices).  In this case it's actually very useful when discussing trust in marketplaces...the fact that you brought this up is what makes your article quite useful.

"Free market economy" is not the final type of economy that society should tend towards.  See the inequality in the USA and our current predicament as a glaring example.  You can mention all you want that authoritarian or anti-market systems are bad, but please do not make the answer to those problem to be "free market economics".  

Now to your piece more generally: you raise the most important issue with regards to the marketplace in Iran, which ultimately continues to see a lack of trust.  This prevents people from transacting, and ultimately restricts economic growth.  What you need is regulation of business...but regulation and regulatory agencies generally only develop in republics/democracies.  This insinuates that authoritarian governments are the antithesis of regulation as well as democracy.  Without regulation there is little to no trust in the products being sold and the people selling them.  It's a free for all.  

 I actually plan on opening up a regulatory agency in Iran(despite the lack of democracy) after I get my PhD, so if you have questions you can e-mail me at payam1960@yahoo.com 

Nasser

It's been published in Nature. So I dont think you can dismiss it so easily.

Oxytocin

An interesting article, but facts about Oxytocin was rather exaggerated.  Here is some information on Oxytocin:  It is a mammalian hormone generally release in large amounts during child birth.  It is administered by IV to induce labor as Pitocin.  It is released by Pituitary Gland.  The external Oxytocin cannot inter the brain due to tissue brain barrier.  Brain neurons release its own oxytocin as a neurotransmitter with minor questionable functions.  The Major transmitters of the brain are Epinephrine, Norepinephrine and Serotonin.  These three are the ones controlling the psychochemical portion of individual’s behavior such as anxiety, depression, etc.  Some experiments have been done to identify the roll of brain Oxytocin.  Some of which are Orgasm, social recognition, pair bonding, anxiety and maternal behavior.  For this reason some call it the “Love Hormone”.  Most of the experiments are done on Laboratory animals such as rats or dongs and some human.  For instance injection of Oxytocin in into cerebrospinal fluid of a rat caused it to have spontaneous erection.  As for social behavior in an experiment done on dog and human consisting of a petting session of 5-20 minutes, they found an increase in blood oxytocin level.  As for Oxytocin having such significant effect on TRUST, don’t take it too seriously.  Trust is a judgemental learned behavior, not a chemical one.  (I am a Pharmacist).   

Hey, I don't think you need

Hey, I don't think you need to boycott IC for trashy articles such as these. Just voice your opinion. Yes, of course this article is a piece of trash.

And come on, of course there are many disgruntled self-exiles on this site that are anti-Iran. The site operator even maintains anti-Iran views 

My advice? When you come upon something that's anti-Iran, speak out. Don't run away. 

Kholaseh of article

before the forum starts spiraling into some dumb tangent (as usual), here's an executive summary of the article, just in case you dont want to read the article:

1. Paul Zak is the founder of the field of NeuroEconomics.

2. His experiments demonstrate that there is a linear relationship between "trust" (and "morality") and the molecule Oxytocin in the body.

3. He postualtes that trust is a founding attribute needed for a healthy free market economy. (trust brings trade)

4. He then observes among 40-50 or so countries that the more people of a country have Oxytocin in their bodies, the more that society seems to be doing well in their economy.

5. His data didnt include Iran. I speculated (extrapolated) where Iran would be on his data based on some indicators, and why.

6. I pose the question: Is Oxytocin high in people because they are moral, or are people moral because they have high Oxytocin levels in their blood? And this begs the question: Can we see a racial/ethnic relationship vs. Oxytocin? (e.g. do Iranians not trust eachother because of low Oxytocin levels as a whole?)

Iranian.il

As a longtime reader of this site for almost 15 years, I can attest that Iranian.com has indeed undergone troubling changes.  It is clear there is an anti-Iranian subversion campaign being waged by outsiders, using the blog and comment features of this site.  There are multiple people using multiple fake IDs for the subversion campaign (Fred, Simorgh555, etc.).  It is also clear that this is being done with the consent and knowledge of the operator of this site. 

Their aim is to confuse, distract, re-direct, radicalize, and subvert the Iranian community, posing as Iranians.  And to mislead non-Iranian readers of this site as to what Iranians really think and believe.  Please pass the word before this comment is deleted by whoever it is who is administering the site.

Please warn visitors about this unhealthy site