Mousa Ghaninejad Information

Mousa Ghaninejad, born in August 1951 in Tabriz, Iran, is a prominent Iranian economist and researcher specializing in philosophy, economics, epistemology, and economic thought history. A retired faculty member of the Petroleum University of Technology and an honorary visiting professor at Sharif University of Technology, he is also the head of the Economic Research Center at Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper, often regarded as the intellectual founder of this influential economic publication.

Education

Ghaninejad earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Tehran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. His growing interest in economics led him to France, where he completed his master’s and doctorate degrees in development economics at Panthéon-Sorbonne University. He also began a second doctorate in the epistemology of economics at Paris 1 University but returned to Tehran before defending his thesis, leaving the program incomplete.

Professional Activities

Ghaninejad has made significant contributions to the fields of philosophy of economics, epistemology, and the history of economic ideas. He taught at the Petroleum University of Technology and served as a visiting professor at Sharif University of Technology. As the head of the Economic Research Center at Donya-e-Eqtesad, he played a pivotal role in shaping Iran’s leading economic newspaper. Although claims have surfaced about his advisory role to the Minister of Housing, Urban Development, and Roads during Iran’s 11th and 12th governments, no official documentation confirms or denies this.

Views

Ghaninejad is a staunch advocate of free-market economics and prioritizes economic reforms over political ones. He views revolutions, uprisings, and externally driven regime changes as detrimental to Iran’s future, arguing they lead to authoritarianism. Politically, he has supported right-leaning reformists like Hassan Rouhani but opposed left-leaning reformists such as Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

1979 Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini

In a televised debate with Masoud Derakhshan, Ghaninejad argued that the 1979 Islamic Revolution was heavily influenced by leftist ideologies, including those of Ali Shariati and Abolhassan Banisadr, which shaped Iran’s constitution. He credited Ayatollah Khomeini with preventing Iran from becoming a “second Cambodia” due to his adherence to Islamic principles supporting private property. However, he noted that Khomeini did not steer Iran toward a clear economic system.

Nationalization of Oil and Mohammad Mossadegh

Ghaninejad is a vocal critic of Mohammad Mossadegh and the 1951 nationalization of Iran’s oil industry. He argues that nationalization turned oil revenues into state-controlled funds rather than benefiting the nation, asserting that the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (British Petroleum), which he considers a competitive private entity, could have managed Iran’s resources more effectively. He views Mossadegh’s actions as populist and contrary to national interests and does not classify the August 19, 1953, event as a coup.

Targeted Subsidies Reform

Ghaninejad was a prominent critic of the Targeted Subsidies Reform implemented during Iran’s 9th and 10th governments, labeling it a populist and socially dangerous policy. He argued it redistributed energy rents rather than reforming relative prices for efficient resource allocation. However, in 2014, under the Rouhani administration, he supported the second phase of the reform, advocating for no inflation adjustments to cash subsidies to render them valueless over time. In 2017, he acknowledged that targeting specific groups for subsidies was a challenging and impractical task.

2018 Economic Crisis

Ghaninejad rejected U.S. sanctions as the primary cause of Iran’s 2018–2020 economic crisis, attributing it instead to government mismanagement, including reckless loans and regulatory measures. He accused the government of misleading the public by blaming sanctions.

COVID-19 and Vaccines

In a BBC Persian Pargar program, Ghaninejad refuted claims that capitalism caused environmental issues or pandemics like COVID-19, noting that socialist countries have worse environmental records. He defended market-driven vaccine distribution, arguing that firms investing in vaccine development should benefit from their efforts. When challenged on poorer nations’ inability to afford vaccines, he suggested they strive to become wealthier but added that liberal democracies allow public pressure to push governments to aid poorer countries.

Debates

Debate with Masoud Derakhshan

On April 24, 2023, Ghaninejad debated Masoud Derakhshan on Jahan-Ara (Ofogh TV), critiquing Iran’s economic and political system. Citing Islamic tradition, he argued that price controls, even during scarcity, were against the Prophet Muhammad’s practices, who reportedly stated, “Prices are in God’s hands.”

Debate with Ali Alizadeh

On May 20, 2023, in a Shiveh program on Channel 4, Ghaninejad and Ali Alizadeh critiqued Iran’s economic management. Ghaninejad blamed state-controlled markets, while Alizadeh pointed to neoliberalism as the root cause.

Selected Bibliography

Authored Works

• An Introduction to the Epistemology of Economics (Tehran: Institute for Research in Planning and Development, 1997)
• Modernization and Development in Contemporary Iran (Tehran: Markaz, 1998)
• Civil Society: Freedom, Economics, and Politics (Tehran: Tarh-e No, 1998)
• On Hayek (Tehran: Negah-e Moaser, 2002)
• Interest or Usury? A Dialogue on the Concepts of Interest and Usury (with Abbas Mousavian, Tehran: Negah-e Moaser, 2005)
• Economics and Social Justice (with Mohammad Tabibian, Gholamali Farjadi, and Masoud Nili, edited by Laleh Khakpour, Tehran: Nashr-e Ney, 2007)
• The Future of Iran from the Perspective of Three Contemporary Thinkers: Hassan Eshayari, Mousa Ghaninejad, and Reza Mansouri (Shahridad Mirzaei, Tehran: Dibayeh, 2009)
• The Idea of Freedom: A Political Economy Perspective on Contemporary Iran (with Mohammad Tabibian and Hossein Abbasi Alikamar, Tehran: Donya-e-Eqtesad, 2012)
• Liberalization and Economic Performance (Tehran: Donya-e-Eqtesad, 2012)
• Economics from Another Perspective (collection of articles from Donya-e-Eqtesad, 2004–2008, Tehran: Donya-e-Eqtesad, 2013)
• Economics and the State in Iran (Tehran: Donya-e-Eqtesad, 2016)
• Essays on the Methodology of Economics (Tehran: Minooye Kherad, 2018)
• Piketty: The Fallacy of the 21st Century (A Critical Review of Capital in the 21st Century) (Tehran: Donya-e-Eqtesad, 2020)

Translated Works

• Law, Legislation, and Liberty: A New Statement of the Liberal Principles of Justice and Political Economy, Friedrich von Hayek, 3 volumes (Vol. 1: Rules and Order, Vol. 2: The Mirage of Social Justice, Vol. 3: The Political Order of a Free People), translated by Mahshid Moin and Mousa Ghaninejad (Tehran: Donya-e-Eqtesad, Vols. 1 and 2: 2013, Vol. 3: 2014)