From The Heritage Foundation and AEI:
by Jay Hallen
American Enterprise Institute
November 17, 2011
Libya ranked 173 out of 179 on the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, the worst score of any country in the Arab world. Such freedom is notoriously difficult to achieve in a command economy and petro-state like Libya, where a single resource, oil, provides 70 percent of GDP and accounts for nearly all exports and government revenues. Libya is blessed with the gift of oil, but cursed because it entrenches a corrupt leadership that has little incentive to reform, particularly when prices are high. If the National Transitional Council (NTC) really wants to liberate the Libyan people from decades of tyranny, it will take a few basic steps to build a diversified private sector. This will develop economic freedom, foster a more resilient middle class, and leverage what is truly Libya’s greatest resource—its unemployed university graduates who only want to rebuild and take pride in a better country.
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