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Thursday December 22, 2011

 
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The cost of a revolution in Egypt

Inflation is up, productivity is down, tourists are gone and unemployment hasn't been this high for a decade. Egyptians may have reveled in a revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak but now they are questioning the cost of it all.

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Part One of The Current

Satire

It's Thursday, December 22nd.

NASA scientists have discovered a planet that is the twin of the earth, orbiting a star like our sun.

Now, if only we can get there in time to stop the primates from evolving.

This is The Current.

The cost of a revolution in Egypt

Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir square called it the Million Women March. The protest - earlier this week - was intended to show solidarity with a woman who was beaten and stripped by security forces. It was also intended to show impatience with military rule in Egypt - which shows little sign of easing despite the parliamentary elections now taking place.

But some Egyptians are equally impatient with the long upheaval brought by the ongoing protest movement ... and its costly side effects. For one thing, the tourists have all but disappeared- this season, according to those who make a living off the Pyramids. We heard from tour guides at a horse stable at the edge of the Pyramids.

Tourists contribute more than 11 billion dollars every year to Egyptian coffers or at least they did before the Arab spring. The wrecked economy and the political instability has many Egyptians weary of the seemingly unending revolution. We heard from 20 year old Farah, a business student at the Cafe Cilantro in Cairo.

Magda Kandil is the Executive Director of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies and she joined us from Cairo this morning. Ahmad Aiyad is a 23-year old protester who has been very active in Tahrir Square. He was also in Cairo.

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