Word: centralization
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...worsening revenue picture for the Iraqi government apparently stirred talk among leadership in Baghdad of allowing the export of oil from Kurdish northern Iraq. Kurdistan, as the semi-autonomous region is known, has long sought to export its significant oil reserves. But the central government in Baghdad has always objected to any such move, insisting that Baghdad control the country's oil exports and its revenues. The dispute has proven to be one of the most intractable impasses in Iraqi politics. Early reports of a possible deal buoyed hopes for a breakthrough, but so far no agreement has emerged...
...country accustomed to surprises from its government, Nicaraguans received another curiosity on May 15 when they awoke to find that the Central Bank, moving in the night as stealthily as the Tooth Fairy, had snuck a new legal tender into their economy while the markets were sound asleep...
...ratty paper bills that cause germaphobes to collapse in conniptions every time they are handed change. The problem is the new bills were slipped into the economy without any public awareness campaign and minimal forewarning. A week after the plastic money was let loose on the economy, the Central Bank still hadn't updated its website to indicate that the new bills even existed. (See the top 10 public panics...
Instead, government officials have responded in what has become the Sandinistas' standard reaction to criticism: triumphalism mixed with personal attacks. Sandinista lawmakers have accused Navarro of "economic terrorism" for questioning the bills' legality, and Central Bank president Antenor Rosales dismissed the criticism as the complaints of rich people "who are more accustomed to using debit cards and checks and don't care about the people." Said Rosales, "The Central Bank is profoundly satisfied with the excellent reception that the bills have had with the Nicaraguan population. Everywhere in Nicaragua the bills are being used...
...Across Central Asia, they are a common sight: portraits glorifying each nation's leader. Rising above the people on roadside billboards and taking pride of place on the walls of local government offices, visual tributes to the region's sitting presidents outnumber internet cafes, independent newspapers and working bank machines. But Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmon aims to change all that. He has issued a decree that all portraits depicting him with local politicians are to be torn down immediately...