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How to (really) fight poverty in Israel
Originally published 14 Sep 2005 in
The Jerusalem Post
‘It is three years now that poverty has been bothering me,” interim Finance Minister Ehud Olmert recently intimated. So how can he mitigate poverty, when all Israeli governments have tried and failed, after spending billions upon billions of the taxpayers’ money? First, he could help by not repeating past mistakes, and not throwing more money at welfare policies that have already cost so much and delivered so little, by not shifting more funds to failed government “anti-poverty” programs whose sole benefit is political dividends to the distributive politician.
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Farewell Bibi, hello Ehud
Originally published 21 Aug 2005 in
The Jerusalem Post
Until A few years ago, Netanyahu’s replacement as finance minister, Ehud Olmert, was considered by reform-minded Israelis a worthy successor to Netanyahu. Like Bibi, Ehud professed to be pro-market, with the courage, sometimes, to take unpopular stands.
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A challenging revolution
Originally published 3 Aug 2005 in
The Jerusalem Post
One of the major problems facing new entrants into the banking industry is the Byzantine nature of excessive Israeli regulations, which Nobel laureate Milton Friedman described as the most complicated in the Western world.
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David Vs. Goliath
Originally published 20 Jul 2005 in
The Jerusalem Post
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Caravaggio's David with the Head of Goliath c. 1610. oil on canvas. Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
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The Goliath of the Israel economy, the Poalim-Leumi bank duopoly, was certain that in this battle too, as in former battles over the last 20 years, it would easily vanquish the outnumbered forces of reform. What a shock, then, that despite its overwhelming force, a daring adversary with a slingshot overwhelmed it.
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Israel’s silent struggle
Originally published 20 Jul 2005 in
The Weekly Standard
In a country justly preoccupied by security concerns, economic developments usually don’t get top billing, even if they have a great impact on the country’s well-being and security.
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