There’s an article today in the Jordan Times attempting to articulate the predicament many Jordanians have found themselves in this year: the rising price of Jordanian sheep. There has been a noticeable price difference between the local variety and the international variety coming mainly from Australia, and that difference is related the rising prices of [...]

A bit of news has been spreading like wildfire these past few days in Amman: the new 8mb ADSL Internet connection from Orange. The advertisements have been popping up all over town and it naturally got me thinking about what such a leap in speed might mean for Jordan. Yes, it is not the most [...]

Have you filled up your gas tank yet? More on 7iber.

This has probably been the most talked about issue these past few days on the Jordanian street: what’s happening with prices. Speculation is running abound as economists and columnists alike have all been turning the rumor mills of uncertainty. Gas prices have been on a decline for once and the line ups at gas stations [...]

A common sight in Jordan has always been street peddlers. Typically, young Jordanians who weave through the traffic of cars stopped at a red light. In recent years I’ve noticed a change that has been occurring that is perhaps a metaphor for the bigger solution. Up until these past few years, the overwhelming majority of [...]

Today is Blog Action Day and the global conversation this year is about poverty, so I thought it would be relevant to discuss poverty in Jordan. There are naturally a million angles to tackle. We could talk about the UN Human Development report and Jordan’s relatively impressive rankings. We could talk about public policy and [...]

Of all the things Jordanians tend to talk about, it is simply interesting to see the global financial crisis rank first in coffee-house conversations. Some are arguing that this is the “end of America”, while others are looking at it from a more personal perspective: how will something that is so global affect Jordanians? Will [...]

According to the latest Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International, Jordan now ranks 47 (2008), down rather significantly from last year’s position of 53. The Kingdom ranked 40 in 2006 and 37 in 2005 and 2004. It should be noted that TI measures perceived corruption, employing a methodology that usually consists of surveys that poll [...]