Saturday, January 27, 2007

This information should be circulated in Lebanon because the governor of the Central Bank receives the most fawning press coverage due to to loans and financial incentives that he gives to Lebanese publishers, in addition to subsidized papers. He was recently touted for winning some non-existing prize as the "best governor of any central bank in the world"--he did well in the swimsuit competition, we are told. And the following news was not published in Lebanese newspapers, to my knowledge. "JPMorgan says Lebanon has lost $1.38 billion in foreign reserves since the conflict began. Before the invasion, its reserves were quite healthy—standing at between $11 billion and $13 billion."