JAMES CARTER: How To Know Who Really Won In Iran

(Photo by Atta KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

While Washington and Tel Aviv argue over battle damage assessments, consider a different metric entirely: somewhere in Tehran tonight, an Iranian engineer with a graduate degree is driving a rideshare to make ends meet. He is not alone. Together, millions of Iranians like him tell the story of one of the most consequential economic failures of the past half century — a failure entirely of the regime’s own making.

The numbers don’t get nearly enough attention. Iran’s economy, measured in purchasing power parity, totals about $1.8 trillion. For 85.8 million people. That works out to roughly $21,000 per person. But in real terms, the average Iranian is poorer today than they were at the time of the 1979 revolution. Had Iran simply continued its pre-revolution growth trajectory, it would be vastly richer today.

The human cost shows up in the labor data. Only about four in 10 working-age Iranians are employed. For women, the figure is barely one in eight. The educated leave when they can. That’s why that engineer is driving a rideshare instead of building a company.

Now consider what that same population could produce with genuinely free markets and sound institutions. America’s per capita output of roughly $85,000 is exceptional even among wealthy nations. That’s not the relevant comparison. Iran should, at least, match its neighbors.

In 2000, Iran’s........

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