Lebanon’s financial collapse since 2019 is a story of how a vision for rebuilding a nation once known as the Switzerland of the Middle East was derailed by corruption and mismanagement, as a sectarian elite borrowed, with few restraints. High Steaks: British Cow ‘Posh Spice’ Sells for World Record Impeachment Managers Ask Trump to Testify in Senate Trial Downtown Beirut, leveled in the civil war, rose up with skyscrapers built by international architects and swanky shopping malls filled with designer boutiques that took payment in dollars. But Lebanon had little else to show for a debt mountain equivalent to 150% of national output, one of the world’s highest burdens. Its electricity plants can’t keep the lights on and Lebanon’s only reliable export is its human capital. Liverpool Barred from Germany for Leipzig Champions League Match Message of Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Foreign Minister on Kashmir Solidarity Day How Did It Borrow So Much? Some economists have described Lebanon’s financial system as a nationally regulated Ponzi scheme, where new money is borrowed to pay existing creditors. It works until fresh money runs out. But how did the nation of about 6 million people get there? After the civil war, Lebanon balanced … Continue reading Rebuilding a nation, a lesson in history