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An Economic Catastrophe in Afghanistan

The economic situation in Afghanistan is perilous. Banks have run out of cash. In some areas, Afghans are selling their belongings in ad hoc flea markets. Parents wait around hospitals and clinics in the hopes of getting treatment for severely malnourished children. We hear about what the unfolding crisis looks like on the ground, why the economy has deteriorated so quickly, and what role the United States has played. Guest: Christina Goldbaum, a correspondent for The New York Times, based in Kabul.
Duration
31m
Broadcast on
15 Dec 2021
Audio Format
other

The economic situation in Afghanistan is perilous. Banks have run out of cash. In some areas, Afghans are selling their belongings in ad hoc flea markets. Parents wait around hospitals and clinics in the hopes of getting treatment for severely malnourished children.

We hear about what the unfolding crisis looks like on the ground, why the economy has deteriorated so quickly, and what role the United States has played.

Guest: Christina Goldbaum, a correspondent for The New York Times, based in Kabul.

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For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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This podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. From The New York Times, I'm Michael Bobaro. This is a daily. Today, the economy in Afghanistan is collapsing. Prompting the United Nations to warn that the country is at risk of, quote, "total breakdown." My colleague, Christina Gobo, traveled to Afghanistan to witness the crisis firsthand and understand the unique role that the United States has played in creating it. It's Wednesday, December 15th. Christina, I know that all of our colleagues in Afghanistan were evacuated when the country fell to the Taliban a few months ago. So how exactly did you do this reporting? Yeah, so when the Taliban took over, we rushed to evacuate from the country 'cause no one knew what was gonna happen. And from late August into September, I was talking to friends and sources who were still in Afghanistan to figure out what was going on in the country now. And what a lot of aid workers were telling me was that just in the couple of weeks since the Taliban seized power, the economic situation had become pretty dire. One humanitarian worker was telling me how what we were seeing in Afghanistan was the kind of collapse you might see in the course of 10 years of a civil war in a country happened in the matter of weeks. And so I was eager to get back to Afghanistan and be able to see firsthand what exactly was going on. So I flew at the beginning of October to Uzbekistan and drove across the border into Afghanistan to be able to begin reporting on what does Afghanistan look like under Taliban control? And once you arrived, what did you see?

Transcription truncated.

The economic situation in Afghanistan is perilous. Banks have run out of cash. In some areas, Afghans are selling their belongings in ad hoc flea markets. Parents wait around hospitals and clinics in the hopes of getting treatment for severely malnourished children. We hear about what the unfolding crisis looks like on the ground, why the economy has deteriorated so quickly, and what role the United States has played. Guest: Christina Goldbaum, a correspondent for The New York Times, based in Kabul.