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Re: imports of medical supplies to Iraq



> It is untrue to say that Iraq cannot import any medical supplies or
> spare parts for medical equipment...
> ... the only problem is the high cost of these imported
> items and the lack of adequate government funding to purchase them.

Jonathan's comments seem to confirm reports that first appeared in 1991.
Haris Gazdar and Jean Dreze, two economists then at the London School of
Economics, travelled to Iraq as part of an interdisciplinary International
Study Team.  Their report, published in the journal World
Development (1992) as "Hunger and Povery in Iraq, 1991", finds little
evidence of price differences between basic goods in Iraq and those in
Jordan.  This suggested to them that the costs of transporting goods
across that border was low.  They did, however, find that the Iraqi
purchasing power had declined steeply, making Iraqis unable to purchase
the goods that were available.  The usual indicator of purchasing power
decline is the Iraqi dinar - US $ exchange rate.

I forget who's pointed out that there's nothing to prevent the homeless in
this country from sleeping in hotels and eating in restaurants.  It has
been used as an analogy to this situation. 

Colin Rowat
Coordinator, Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq
http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/casi

King's College                                                 
Cambridge CB2 1ST                       tel: +44 (0)468 056 984
England                                 fax: +44 (0)1223 335 219

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