8/3/2019 Pirates are Good for the Economy

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Pirates are Good for the Economy

In a recent post, we covered the phenomenal War of the Tweets in the on-going sagabetween al-Shabaab and the Kenyan Army. We now shift your attention to the nort

hern part of Somalia, which is governed by pirates. According to a report by Chatham House, Somali pirates diligently bring in income and development to this poverty stricken region. A direct quote from the reports author sums it up: Piracy appears to lead to widespread economic development.

Forget World Bank or IMF; who needs them? Pirates are good for development. According to the report:

1. Pirates provide local governance and stability (Im sure that is meant in arelative sense they may make you walk the plank, but at least they wont cut yourhands off);2. Keeping hostages generates jobs for local cooks, producers and traders (not a bad trade-off);3. The average hijacking ransom earns the community 1,650 cows or the monetary equivalent (and thats no small change in Africa);

4. The flow of ransom payments has helped to boost the local exchange rate,raise real wages and reduce inflation;5. Ransoms totalling $135m in 2011 (am I in the wrong business or what) helped set up dozens of trucking companies that have reduced transport costs of food for northern Somalia;6. Hijacking one ship provides direct employment for up to 100 people.

In fact, it is our firm and highly speculative belief that piracy is the fastest(and possibly only) growing industry in Somalia. The Ghost Post accountant (whodoubles as our janitor and moonlights as an economist) anticipates increasing i

nterest from investors looking for a high rate of return. When asked about the risk level, the Janitor / Accountant / Economist muttered while cleaning a toilet

bowl, Its gotta be less risk than investing in the banking or housing sector. Dang nab it, cant people learn to flush the toilet properly?

There you have it: a nod of approval for touring and investing in Somalia. Dont forget to ask your travel agent about special, highly discounted packages. A trip

there is guaranteed to be a highly memorable vacation. However, we do recommend, in addition to Travel Insurance, that you purchase Ransom Insurance. Not thatyoull ever need it, of course. I mean, who actually gets ill when they have health insurance, eh?

So the question is: if they promised economic growth and job creation, would youvote for the pirates?

Let us know on facebook.com/TheGhostPost or http://veredehsani.com/blog.html