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Lebanon's Financial Collapse Accelerates
(Washington Post) Liz Sly - Most parts of Lebanon are receiving no more than two or three hours of electricity a day and the traffic signals in Beirut have stopped working. These are among the latest symptoms of an economic implosion that is accelerating at an alarming pace in Lebanon - the result of decades of economic mismanagement, corruption and overspending. Economists are now predicting a Venezuela-style collapse, with acute shortages of essential products and services, runaway inflation and rising lawlessness. The Lebanese pound has lost over 60% of its value in just the past month. Bread is in short supply because the government can't fund imports of wheat. "Lebanon is no longer on the brink of collapse. The economy of Lebanon has collapsed," said Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.