Middle East Eye: Egypt set to continue economic 'reforms'

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Egypt looks set to buck a trend this year.

While other countries in the Middle East will likely slow down their economic reforms, Egypt will power forward with its own after March elections, according to analysts.

“There is a genuine commitment to reform by the president,” said Riccardo Fabiani, senior analyst for the Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group in London. “For him [President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi] it isn’t just about doing the minimum to avoid being punished by international creditors.” Read more here.

U.S. News: Why Oil and Telecom Stocks Are a Good Bet

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Will this be the year to invest in oil and telecom stocks? A BMO Private Bank report says oil and telecom could be "surprising market leaders" in the U.S. stock market in 2018.

Both sectors were losers in last year's bull market, but history shows that such laggards tend to bounce back – and for that reason, oil and telecom stocks could be winners in 2018. Read more here.

Forbes: The Fed Needs To Read This Economics Book

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The problem with economics is that even the leadership of the Federal Reserve seem to get confused.

Luckily, a soon-to-be-published book will help sort out the situation. It's titled "The Growth Delusion: Wealth, Poverty, and the Well-Being of Nations," by David Pilling, and is set to hit bookstores on January 30. Read more here.

P.J. Media: A Nation of Junkies? Study Eschews Economic Despair Opioid Theory

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Why are so many Americans dying of drug overdoses? Maybe it’s because we’re a nation of junkies.

At least that seems to be the finding from a new study that flies in the face of the more widespread view that the opioid crisis is the result of a weak economy.

“The fatal overdose epidemic is likely to primarily reflect drug problems rather than the deaths of despair,” states a report published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Read more here.

P.J. Media: Russia Reaps What Privatization Sows in Great Grain Revolution

By SIMON CONSTABLE

While few have noticed, Russia has quietly grown into a new role: Top dog in the global wheat trade.

An astonishing rise in productivity, which has seen the country's wheat output more than double in size since the late 1980s, comes primarily as a result of privatization of the agricultural sector. A potential bonus for the former Soviet economy is that if, as some analysts expect, prices for the grain jump the country could see a bump in export earnings. Read more here.

Forbes: Iran Could Be One Of The Sexiest Places For Investment, Says Exiled Crown Prince

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There are tremendous possibilities for Iran's economy that go way beyond oil.

The problem is that at best the resources haven't been managed well, at worst they have been squandered. That's according to exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who spoke with me recently. Read more here.

Forbes: Iranians Have Endured Zero Legal Protections For Years, says Exiled Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Protestors massing on the streets across Iran want something different from their government. That is for sure. But is also true that the current theocratic system ruled by the Mullahs may not allow for what the people want.

So what should a new government look like in a possible future Iran? One that protects liberties for people equally under the law says exiled Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi.  Read more here.

Reza Pahlavi

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, 

via Wikimedia Commons