Lebanon in Crisis, With Joe Issa El Khoury, 10 April 2021 by populyst

Sami J. Karam speaks with Joe Issa El Khoury, a Beirut-based financier, about the tragic events that have unfolded in Lebanon since 2019. Issa El Khoury explains the sequence of events that led to the present, and offers a possible way forward.

0:00 Introduction of Joe Issa El Khoury
2:25 What is it like right now on the ground in Beirut?
8:33 Why did Lebanon have a golden period in 1945-75; why was it later so prone to crisis?
17:40 The Rafik Hariri era and the return of growth 1990-2005
20:00 What explains the weakness of the Lebanese state: geography and demographics
26:30 Lebanon's diversity as a source of wealth; Example of Lebanese cuisine
30:40 Crossing the line from a laissez-faire economy to a crony economy
35:05 The real estate boom of 2007-11
36:55 The impact of the Syrian civil war
39:10 Crowding out the private sector
44:10 The proximate factors that led to the meltdown
46:15 The current condition of the banking sector; Role of the Central Bank
51:00 Will depositors suffer a haircut? The Lazard and other plans
54:45 Talk of privatization of state assets
59:45 Political patronage in the public sector
1:01:50 "All roads lead to Washington DC and the acronym IMF"
1:05:20 Political reform and the role of the diaspora