The Power of Positive Thinking

The U.S. is giving millions of dollars to the Iraqi Stock Exchange to update their computer equipment (they currently operate with markers and whiteboards). The Stock Exchange opened for foreign investment last month, and Taha Abdulsalam, Iraqi CEO of the Iraqi Stock Exchange, is a paragon of positive thinking:

"Yes, there are many dangers in Iraq. Yes, there are many things you must accept. We have terrorists, we have political problems - any kind of problem you see in the world, yes, we have it...But you must accept that risk because the prices are very low and there is an opportunity for you to be a great investor in Iraq in the future."

...Abdulsalam hopes the computerized system will attract outside investors who may be waiting for the changes to be made rather than leave their money to the perils of erasers and whiteboards.

If investors come calling, the Iraq Stock Exchange will be ready, Abdulsalam said.

"You have to study everything, you have to prepare everything, and then you must move very fast," he said. "We have done everything for the foreign investors, and now we are just waiting for them to act."

Ah, if only investors around the world were really just waiting for new computer systems to start sending their money to Iraq.