We knew Beethoven because of Him

Someone might tell you a Mr. Karim ChamanAra passed away in Tehran, Iran. His name might not be among familiar names in media reports, or among Iranian directors and musicians who frequent capitals and metropolitans. Nonetheless generations of Iranians knew mighty names such as Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and etc because of him. Karim ChamanAra dedicated his life to production and publication of music, both classical and Iranian traditional. His name is worthy of remembrance and our gratitude.

Mr. ChamanAra was the founder of Beethoven music house in Tehran, a company producing and distributing musical recordings and tapes. His store was also named Beethoven, in the crowded streets of central Tehran; there one could have found a different world. Rows and rows of masters, musical scores, performances, composers, for many going through his shelves was a study of classical music. Through him we heard Beethoven’s 5th and 9th, the thunder of artillery in Borodino as captured by Tchaikovsky’s 1812, the hymns of Bach’s baroque, Mozart’s geniuses and so many others. Located a few block from University of Tehran, a short walk from Alborz High School and Polytechnic University of Tehran (Amirkabir University of Technology), Beethoven was a landmark by itself. Many like your correspondent did not go there to shop; we went there to pay our respects on pilgrimage.

May be it is hard for you, my dear reader, to imagine the significance of his work, but in revolution and war, in social turmoil and midst political unrest keeping the gates of heavens open is no easy task. Because of his dedication many found moments of tranquility, many discovered the joy and passion of music. He will be remembered.

Photo is from BBCPERSIAN.COM

Khatami or MirHussein Mousavi

Former President Khatami told reporters On Monday that either he or Mr. MirHussein Mousavi, Iran's premier during Iran-Iraq war, will run for presidency against President Ahmadinejad. This is the first public announcement Mr. Khatami has made about his plans for coming elections. He also said that the current administration diversion from development plans and accepted 2020 vision has cost country dearly. He criticized the government by adding “instead of going forward for 4 years we went backward for 4 years."

Although Mr. Khatami has remained actively involved in Iran's politics since his second term ended as the president, Mr. MirHussein Mousavi has been considered retired. He led the government during the Iran-Iraq war serving as the prime minister, while Ayatollah Khamenie was the President of IRI. His government implemented centralist economic policies, limiting private sector to a few industries and expanding public sector to include several enterprises in different industries. His emphasis on a leftist approach to the economy caused several disagreements with conservative factions of Majlis. Trained as an architect he has a quiet professional life for the last 20 years, designing houses and holding art exhibition. Although his name always comes up when a presidential election is approaching.

* Photo is taken from BBC Persian website

Back from ASSA San Francisco 2009

This year Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) held its annual meeting in San Francisco, CA. The main body in these associations is American Economic Association. However several other associations were present, including Econometric Society (ES), Middle East Economics Association (MEEA) and etc.
For many this meeting is also known as the “Job Market" since several PhD candidates and recent graduates receive their first chance to talk to their potential employers. And for life of me I do not know how anyone can evaluate anyone as a potential colleague in 30 minutes! I believe that is why hiring committees intend to rely on brands and their instincts more than anything else. That is also why job seekers must have a network of connections before this event to make themselves known. Otherwise they are only another face in a line of dozens of talented candidates.
The recession and the recent economic events have caused tremendous distortion in the market this year. Several schools hiring budgets were frozen. Some received word in the last minute that they can hire, some heard that they could not.
The conference also is a place for the members of MEEA to meet and to have their annual gatherings. There were a few sessions including a poster session where researches from schools in U.S. and universities in Algiers, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and other countries presented their work (I presented in the poster session myself).
The quality of some of the papers was remarkable. I particularly liked a paper presented by Nagla Rizk from American University of Cairo on copy rights and the lack of demand for them in Egypt. Her argument is that the main source of income for many artists is their performances in the weddings and other social events and thus they are not interested in collecting loyalties from the sale of their products. I found this paper and a few others intriguing because of their insightful approach to the fabric of daily economic life in the Middle East.
Overall one must admit that there is an increasing interest in the Middle Eastern economies that goes beyond the traditional approach, which focuses on oil and nothing else.

Report on the First Conference on Iran's Economy

This was a most promising gathering of economists and doctoral students interested in Iran's economy hosted by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Some of the eminent names in Iranian studies and economic research attended the conference, among them (in alphabetical order) Professors Firouz Gahvari, Hassan Hakimian, Guity Nashat, Vahid Nowshirvani, Hashem Pesaran, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani and Hadi Salehi Esfahani. The younger generation included several doctoral students from UIUC, Virginia Tech, USC, UT-Austin, Berkley, Cambridge (UK) and Goethe University (Germany). Nobel laureate Gary Becker from University of Chicago offered commentary on research on Iran’s economy. Professor Hashem Pesaran from Cambridge was the keynote speaker. The meetings were held in Illini Union.

The conference was conspicuous for several reasons. The articles presented stand apart from the mainstream research in their insight, analysis and implications. A few works even went as far as implementing new information theory methodologies to study economic issues in Iran.

The works of doctoral students were impressive both in their efforts to utilize advance theories and analytical tools and in their struggle with original data from the field. Each and every paper was welcome by several comments from well informed audience and the following discussion usually brought up new questions for further research. This was a world apart from usual gatherings where people have little idea about the realities of daily economic life in Iran and thus they are content by what they hear.

The conference also was a significant organizational success. All in academia know that organizing such events is no easy task. Special thanks go to Professor Hadi Salehi Esfahani for initiating the idea of such gatherings and coordinating the efforts and resources needed for organizing this conference and to his colleagues; Professor Firouz Gahvari and Dr. Ali Toossi Ardakani and to Iranian graduate students in economics department at UIUC, who assisted in all phases of the conference and were generously hospitable. UIUC[1] has been among the first campuses to admit Iranian graduate students to the doctoral program in economics directly from Iran and its sponsorship of this conference was a new peak in this institution’s support for research on Iran’s economy.

This certainly is but a beginning. The second conference at USC in September 2009 is expected to be attended by a larger number of researchers and doctoral students. The idea is to have annual meetings that bring together all economists who are interested in Iran’s economy with academicians from Iran; unfortunately visa problems prevented Iranian economists from attending the first conference despite organizers’ efforts and wishes. The challenges ahead are many particularly for the young researchers who have to seek employment and to qualify for tenure. They ought to balance their interests in Iran's economy and the necessities of their career paths.

The signs are promising; Iran is a taboo or deal breaker topic in academic circles no more. The growing number of doctoral students in economics from this country guarantees a continuous access to the observations from field and a dynamic link with Iranian academic centers. The road ahead is long, but there is hope that great things can be accomplished. The first Conference on Iran's Economy has confirmed and reinforced hopes for dynamic, productive and ground breaking research on Iran's economy.

[1] Another school was Virginia Tech, whose students collaborated with a few research papers offered in this conference.

First Conference on Iran's Economy

Tomorrow the First Conference on Iran's Economy will take place at University of Illinois Urbanna-Champaign. This gathering stands out for two reasons: first it is attended by many who have been working on Iran's economy for the past three decades. Second a number of young researchers are presenting their work in this conference, among them a few doctoral students and recent graduates. Thus it marks the first event where the younger generation of economists interested in Iran join the older generation who kept the work going despite all difficulties and turmoil of past three decades.
There will be a second gathering in September at USC and interested parties and researchers are invited to submit their work. Iran's economy after another sharp increase in oil prices is going through aftershocks now. Its rising inflation, the huge supply of college graduates, its success in checking population growth and fighting poverty, while inequality persists in society, make studying it the most intreseting undertaking.

Iran and US Election

It is interesting to notice that how closely Presidential campaigns in the States were followed by international audience. In Iran many kept track of primary elections and then the combat between Barak Obama, President Elect, and Senator McCain with enthusiasm. For them it was unbelievable to see an African American with a Kenyan father on the road to the White House.
In the days leading to the election Iranians enjoyed the competition while many officials followed the old line that USA foreign policy is independent from the ruling party. This statement neither subdued hopes nor reduced expectations that an Obama presidency would be better for Iranian people. Many believe that even a change of tone in Washington would cool down the tensions and would facilitate diplomatic approach and negotiations.
Iran-USA relations always have been a tricky process filled by political minefield. Both sides have to be careful of domestic reactions and interest groups while planning to approach each other. The prevailing assumption is that Iranian politicians believe that success in opening political relationship with the States would result in an immense increase in one's prestige and political influence. Thus many political groups would interfere in the process or would interrupt it to deny their rivals the credit not because they oppose the notion itself.
This argument neglects the fact that often radicals of both sides enjoy a best response situation. They provide each other with incentives, motives and reasons to remain radical. It also puts too much weight on the political gains of such a relationship. Many politicians on both sides have gained more opposing the other side than advocating diplomatic relations. Why this time could be different? Would it be different simply because of the “change” agenda?
Although some say “Change” has created expectations, there is little doubt that realpolitik deals with incentives, gains and strategies. From this point of view both countries are in a position to gain from a negotiation. If we assume that new administration will seek a stronger Iraqi government and move toward a reduced presence in Iraq then Iran’s assistance would be of value. Should it be secured it will result in a more stable Iraq and facilitate regaining stability in Iraq. Thus requiring it might create positive gains.
On the other hand if the price of oil continues to decline then Iranian government might appreciate lifting the sanctions and access to international banking system. It also might consider it as a positive gesture to see the regime change is not part of the agenda in Washington.
President-elect’s victory was welcome by many social groups in Iran, including youth, business community, women and students. There are several ways that the new administration can show them good faith: increasing cultural and academic exchanges, allowing Iranian private airlines access to American aircrafts and parts for their purely civilian purposes that would reduce the fatality rate of air travel in Iran, and exploring common business interests; for too long both sides have been focused on oil industry however there are other fields that both sides can collaborate. Doing so would increase the popular demand for relations with the States and politicians can seek diplomatic solutions without appearing to compromise their standards.

So It is Settled

“Impeachment has been Accepted and from this day Mr. Kordan cannot be functioning as the minister of interior. Majlis has expressed its lack of confidence.” With these sentences Dr. Ali Larijani the speaker of Iranian Parliament made it official that Mr. Kordan had lost his job after 90 days in office. Your correspondent does not want to exaggerate the significance of this event; however it was an important development, one that cannot be ignored.
Our story began when Mr. Kordan, seeking the approval of Majlis told MPs that he hold an honorary degree from Oxford, that prestigious eminent tower of academic traditions. After hearing his credentials and Mr. Ahmadinejad's enthusiastic support MPs went ahead and voted for Mr. Kordan. It did not end there.
Dr. Tavakoli a prominent conservative MP who is the Head of Majlis Research Center and runs Alef (http://www.alef.ir/) news website did not find Mr. Kordan’s answers to the questions about his degree satisfactory. He sent an inquiry to Oxford asking if they had granted Mr. Kordan a degree in the past. Oxford denied even hearing of a Mr. Kordan. Dr. Tavakoli’s website uploaded Oxford University’s letter. And school sent out a news release to the effect. The story now was picked up by the foreign press; Guardian, Washington Post and LA Times circulated the related stories.
While society, weblogs and media were filled with stories and jokes about this event, conservative faction and MPs were facing a serious question. Although many bureaucrats and officials claim degrees from schools, both domestic and foreign, neither of them ever did so in an official session of Majlis and none had been contradicted. This was an obvious breach of the values advocated by the conservatives. They had no other choice but to seek Mr. Kordan’s resignation.
Several conservative MPs joined Dr. Ahmad Tavakoli and Dr. Ali Motaharri, another conservative MP from Tehran whose father, Morteza Motaharri was the most prominent ideologue of Islamic revolution. They asked for Mr. Kordan’s resignation, he rebuffed them. They requested the President to fire him, and the President rebuffed them too. So impeachment was the only way.
Days leading to the impeachment witnessed some interesting events. Mr. Kordan accepted that his diploma could be a forgery but said that an individual who had claimed to be Oxford representative in Tehran had offered him the document on school’s behalf. That individual identity remains unknown. An aide to Mr. Kordan and President was caught offering 5 million Thomans to MPs for repairing Masjids (Mosques) in their constituencies. Instead of a receipt he had them sign a withdrawal from impeachment request. After being slapped by a fellow conservative He was banned from entering Majlis building.
The day of impeachment came, while Americans were electing a new president, Iranian MPs were firing the person in charge of holding elections. The outcome was celebrated by conservatives, moderates and reformers alike. The impeachment also pushed the cabinet to the edge of confidence. One more change in the cabinet would force President Ahmadinejad to ask for the vote of confidence for the government from Majlis, according to Iranian constitution; an opportunity that many of his critiques would welcome.
The hero of the hour is certainly Ahmad Tavakoli. Your correspondent has been a critique of Mr. Tavakoli's political views, which are conservative, and I am not a conservative by any stretch of the word, and his economic beliefs including his support of government’s role in the economy, yours truly advocate a free market and participating in the global markets. However it must be pointed out that he preformed his duties as a MP immaculately. He investigated Mr. Kordan’s credentials, provided evidence that contradicted them and acted upon hard evidence to challenge him. He was able to rally a group of MPs to impeach the minister and he gave president every opportunity to avoid a confrontation. Many including your correspondent believe that is the true function of any parliament. That is why democracy is efficient, that is why legislation must be independent of executive and that is why elections must be free.