Using an evolutionary perspective that places the present phase of human development in a historical context, the paper examines the state and nature of human development and identifies factors that determine its enhancement for the 21st Century.

Although the last three decades represent only the most recent episode of Egypt's "opening up to the world", their impact on the Egyptian economy and society seems much wider and goes much deeper than anything that Egypt had experienced before, this justifies the use of the relatively new term...

The MENA Region has recently witnessed significant economic and financial development. Yet its trade and capital flows remain marginal on a global level, and risk perceptions and institutional underdevelopment are still a powerful obstacle to an increased access to capital markets, a better...

Using consumption/expenditure based poverty lines, the 1995/6 estimated poverty measures indicate an overall headcount index of 22.9 percent, which is slightly higher in rural areas. The paper shows that in Egypt, poverty is highly growth elastic, and thus poverty reduction will improve with...

he Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has lagged behind other regions in liberalization and economic reform during the past two decades. In this paper I argue that while socio-political and institutional factors may help explain the differences in the pace of economic reform between the...

This paper reviews some of the main trends in the Iranian economy over the past two decades and discusses the key economic policy issues that divide the reformist from the more conservative factions in Iran.