Poverty rising in Syria

The Syria Report's Jihad Yazigi writes Joshua Landis on the Syrian economy:

I would like to insist on that last aspect. While most analysts in Syria mention the rise of Islamism as the most significant change in Syrian society, in my view it is the rise in poverty that I have found most striking... What is upsetting and frustrating in this situation is that there is no excuse for it. Syria is neither heavily indebted nor is it scarce in resources. Ironically, the overall deterioration in the social conditions of average Syrians started in the early to mid-eighties at a time when the country started to pump high levels of crude oil (1987), when investment and production in the agricultural sector was on the rise (early nineties) and when the liberalization of the economy also started (1986).

Link: SyriaComment.com: The Economy - Jihad Yazigi Weighs in.