The Egyptian Executive: A Study in Conflict

Abstract

Beginning in July, 1961, the government of the United Arab Republic (Egypt) issued a series of nationalization decrees which shifted the country from a private enterprise economy to essentially a socialist society. All industry of any substantial size or influence is now owned or controlled by the government. These decrees followed by approximately a decade the political revolution (July, 1952) which ousted the king (Farouk) and created a dictatorship under the eventual leadership of Gamal Abdel Nasser. The nationalization decrees reflected President Nasser’s thinking that the desire for a better way of life for his people had to come through a conversion from an agricultural society to an industrial society. Furthermore, he wanted the industrialization of the economy to be carried out as rapidly as possible. He felt that this could best be accomplished through government control and central planning. The nationalization decrees allowed for some private ownership, in agriculture and in the retail and service trades; however, the total impact of the private sector is, and will be, far outweighed by the influence exerted by the public sector.