Whatever else he is remembered for, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is unlikely to go down in history as an economic wizard. Indeed, the Iranian president has worn his contempt for economic orthodoxy as a badge of honour. The late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, was famously quoted as saying, “Economics is for donkeys.” It is a maxim Ahmadinejad has mirrored assiduously, saying once that he prayed to the Almighty that he would never know anything about a subject he views as a tool of western domination.
His disregard has its roots in political populism. The president sees the prescriptions of seasoned economists as little more than recipes for social injustice. Ahmadinejad’s election victory in June 2005 was based on a pledge to sweep away such inequality. It would be achieved, he said, by putting the proceeds of Iran’s vast oil wealth “on people’s tables”. The time for fancy economic theories was past; henceforth the preference would be for old-fashioned redistribution.
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