Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2021: The Great Denial

The scale and scope of Lebanon’s deliberate depression are leading to the disintegration of key pillars of Lebanon’s post-civil war political economy. The Fall 2020 issue of the LEM titled The Deliberate Depression argued that the depression was self-imposed, or more precisely, imposed onto the general population by the elite that has long ruled the country and captured the state and its associated economic rents. This capture persists despite (1) a crisis estimated to potentially rank among the top three most severe economic collapses worldwide since the 1850s, (Lebanon Sinking (to the Top 3)), Spring 2021 LEM); and (2) non-confessional and, at times, massive popular movements.