While all world economies were affected by the US financial crisis, our government issued a statement saying that the crisis will not affect the Egyptian economy. The main goal of all world countries is to avoid the ramifications of the US credit crunch crisis that threatened the US economy of bankruptcy till the US administration took a decree on pumping $700 billion from the taxpayers money. Although the government has in the last few years been relentlessly confirming that we are no part and parcel of the world economy, when the prices of oil and food commodities increase, shrewd economists in our government come out and say that the wave of high prices is a world phenomenon that we cannot avoid because we are part of the world economy. If we complained about the growing number of unemployed youths, those shrewd specialists would say that unemployment rates are high in all world countries that follow the system of free market economy that our government has been doing its best for years to apply. Yet after the world financial crisis, the same specialists made an official statement saying that we are not part of the world economy and that our economy would not be affected by the crisis. The government issues such contradictory statements to achieve its own interests. If it wanted to increase prices, it would do this because we are part of the world economy in which prices are on the increase on a daily basis, but if it wanted to confirm that we would not be affected by the world crisis, it would immediately issue a statement saying that we are not part of the world economy. I searched for opinions of experts who have no interests with the government. I did not find better than what international law expert Dr. Taher Helmi told the ‘Daily News' that although the current world crisis would not directly affect our banking system, we would inevitably be affected by its ramifications and depression in world markets. Although Helmi insists on going ahead with free market economy, he sees that this will be more difficult during the coming stage and necessitates more intervention from the government as was the case with the US that intervened to limit the influence of private capital. Helmi added that all major projects, especially infrastructure-related, would be affected by the crisis because they are financed by foreign banks, as their budgets reach billions of dollars. Therefore, the government should intervene because our economy mainly depends on infrastructure projects. Major projects should depend on Arab investments to cover the expected shortage in foreign finance. Helmi added that the Suez Canal, tourism and exports and imports would be directly affected by the crisis. Depending on the theory that economic prosperity would have positive effects on the lower classes proved to be a fiasco. Therefore, the government has to now or never make social programs and economic projects to lift burdens on the have-nots and the low-income categories.
