APPARENTLY IT IS FUN TO CREATE A COUNTRY

"It is fun to put together a country's budget," he told The State News, Michigan State's student newspaper. "This has been hard and invigorating, frankly."

McPherson has extensive government, financial and international experience. He served as the Treasury Department's second in command in the Reagan administration, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1981-87 and executive at Bank of America.

Before beginning the assignment, McPherson said his goals were:

--Setting up a sound national currency, a functioning system of banks and other financial institutions and a regulatory structure to promote confidence and soundness in the economic system.

--Establishing property rights and rules of law for commercial and financial transactions.

--Putting together a federal budget, in which the flows of revenues and spending are made clear.

--Removing price controls quickly.

--Generating support from governments and major international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Paris Club, to help Iraq.

"It's a challenge to take on the intricate, but integrated and controlled economy," he said Wednesday. "I think we'll leave a mark."

Read all about it here.