Substack cometh, and lo it is good. (Pricing)

Iraq: not as bad as Yemen

You probably know that the USA has officially withdrawn from Iraq. And you probably also know that in many ways Iraq became the de facto 51st American state for nearly a decade (I remember that my phone’s news app had an “Iraq” section back in 2007). Looking back 10 years ago I recall my attitude being “how bad could we mess this up?” I had expected a “Mouse that Roared” scenario, American investments would leave Iraq in a better position. In a general impressionistic sense I got the sense that I was drastically wrong, but over the past few years poking around Google Data Explorer it’s clear that you can make this case quantitatively too. Iraq just jumps out as a shockingly messed up country (the World Values Survey will also confirm that Iran is a much more enlightened country when measured by the yardstick of post-materialist values!).

Below is a taste of what I often see (I’ll keep life expectancy on the x-axis):

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