We asked readers to tell us what they would do to heal Egypt's economy and improve Egyptian lives. Here's what they propose
In our new feature, we challenge our readers to solve some of the most complex and controversial issues of today.
For the first edition, we called for a plan that would place Egypt on a path to prosperity and stability. Guardian correspondent Patrick Kingsley has detailed the ways in which life has become significantly harder for average Egyptians as a result of the weak economy, social upheaval, and unstable government. We wanted to know: if our readers held a key leadership position in Egypt, with the power to shape the country's future, what steps would they take to rectify the situation?
Below we've featured the proposals of jannahsheehan and 2cents, who both laid out detailed steps for getting Egypt's economy back on track and cooling the nation's political and religious tensions.
Do you agree with their ideas, or would you take an alternative route? What other suggestions do you have for healing Egypt's economy and improving the life of its average citizens? What are the strengths and weaknesses to their approaches?
If jannahsheehan were in charge…
Age: 43
Profession: Teacher
Location: Cairo
Egypt's economic growth has slowed to a crawl. Tell us the immediate steps you would take to get it growing again.
I am not an economist but I believe that these steps would save Egypt:
• Make sure that all trading deliveries in large trucks over a certain size take place between 10pm and 5am to avoid crippling the highways and byways. Then, people could at least get to work. This would motivate people and have a psychologically positive effect, as the visible improvement in traffic and the environment would be immediate. This is not a new idea, but it never seems to get implemented.
• Raise the price of fuel for all private and business cars. Public transport vehicles for the poor should continue to get fuel at the current price. Focus on public transportation.
• Get the rubbish off the streets. Invest a massive amount of the funds sent by the Gulf states into a major project that is focused on Cairo's massive garbage problem. Make sure that the Zabaleen are hugely involved and get their fair share of the recycling materials they need, but also use garbage companies.
• Immediately raise the salaries of all public sector workers, especially teachers, and not excluding the police.
• Immediately raise state pensions for widows and the retired.
• Invest in a global PR campaign [to encourage] businesses to start up and operate in Egypt. Invest in a massive global 'Come back to Egypt' tourism advertising campaign, to be aired all over the world.
• 'Officialise' all those beggars who park cars on the streets, Give them uniforms, a salary, and proper parking tickets to sell.
Part II: What significant drawbacks are there to your plans? Who would oppose you? How would you tackle this opposition? Why do you still think this is the best approach? What other recommendations did you consider but ultimately discard, and why? What alternatives would you be willing to take?
Money is probably a block to most of the above. No-one would oppose the [propsals] above to any extent that it would really matter, apart from the middle class and those with private cars paying more for petrol. Tough luck on them. They should be car-pooling anyway in this awful traffic.
Also, ban the sit-ins. No city in any western 'democracy' would allow for these sit-ins to continue, not least for the hazard they are posing to the environment. Also I would recommend a massive humanitarian drive to help the street children of Cairo. I have no idea how this would be funded but I think it would save the country and its image both at home and abroad.
If 2cents were in charge…
Age: 39
Profession: Care home owner
Location: UK
Part I: Egypt's economic growth has slowed to a crawl. Tell us the immediate steps you would take to get it growing again.
• Do not try and fix everything in one go. Target reform in the following order: the economy, the judiciary, the police and interior ministry, and the the military a distant last. They need to be kept on the side.
• Try and get representation in government from as wide a group as possible including the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafis, youth, secular elite and selected people from Mubarak era who were not tarnished by corruption. The only group who should be substantially excluded are the remnants from the old regime who have no interest in seeing a successful new order.
• In the short term Egypt will have to suck up its pride and cosy up to all its neighbours and potential donors – Gulf states, Turkey, EU, US, IMF, etc.
• In the mid- to long-term, the focus has to be on shifting spending from subsidies towards education, healthcare and infrastructure spending. That will mean painful cuts in subsidies to food and fuel, which also subsidise the lifestyles of the rich. Instead, the government should introduce some sort of cash benefits or voucher system to allow those most in need to decide where to spend their money.
• A shift in spending towards education must also be coupled by a drive to improve teaching standards. There should be a particular focus on vocational education.
• Government needs to get out of the way, especially for small businesses. I would concentrate on removing as much regulation and red tape for small business as possible. I like the ideas put forward by Hernando De Soto on intellectual property rights so I would definitely do things like ensuring that there is a comprehensive land registry. You want people to be able to raise capital, start business easily and create wealth. Deregulation also reduces the opportunity for corruption.
• Produce an industrial strategy. Egypt should be an industrial centre for North Africa and the Arab world. Target key industries (automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics) where Egypt could act as a manufacturing hub for the region. The main regional competitor of similar size is Turkey, so develop a strategic relationship with Turkey where the two countries can collaborate rather than compete directly. By targeting key industries the government should set up low tax and free trade zones, subsidise R&D in key areas, provide incentives for foreign direct investment, seek technology transfer etc.
What significant drawbacks are there to your plans? Who would oppose you? How would you tackle this opposition? Why do you still think this is the best approach? What other recommendations did you consider but ultimately discard, and why? What alternatives would you be willing to take?
The remnants of the former Mubarak regime are the main opposition to the plans. The idea would be to isolate this group by keeping the the rump of society (the Islamic groups, the military and the pro democracy secular forces) on the side. The key to achieving this is a) the debate about the role of religion needs to be put to one side and left to be fought another day and b) the military's privileges will have to be left intact.
There might be some reform of the military but for now it will have to be done on their terms and at their pace. A civilian government will only be able to take on the military once stronger and more democratic institutions are in place (judiciary, police, government bureaucracy etc).
