CAPITALISM - BREAKING OUT ALL OVER

And happily it is a genie that is hard to stuff back into its bottle.

"When I started in late April, I was receiving one container of DiStar goods per month," Mazouri says. "Now, I am getting five to six containers." Each container holds about 270 television sets or 3,800 satellite receiver units. He says he is grossing $20,000 a day. "All the sales are done in cash."

There was plenty of pent-up demand. Sanctions imposed by the United Nations after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 kept a lot of goods out of the country. Before that, an eight-year war with Iran drained the life from Iraq's economy. For nearly 20 years, there was little to buy. And during three decades of rule by Saddam's Baath Party, virtually all companies were state-owned or state-controlled. In 2001, Iraq's gross domestic product was $27.9 billion, compared with $47.6 billion in 1980.

Since the collapse of Saddam's regime, police Officer Gailan Wahoudi, 31, has bought a new television, a refrigerator and an air conditioner. "It is a new freedom I never had before," he says.

The buying spree has been helped by the suspension of customs duties, import taxes, licensing fees and similar surcharges for most goods entering and leaving the country. The U.S.-led coalition's order on June 7 that suspended such charges has made Iraq a virtual free-trade zone at least until the end of the year. The coalition authorities had little choice: Iraq lost its ability to adequately control its borders when Saddam's government collapsed. Immigration and customs controls are only now being restored.

For consumers, the bottom line is lower prices. A Samsung air conditioner that sold for $1,200 before the war is now half that price. The Iraqi Planning Ministry reports that home appliance prices are down 41% from their prewar prices; electronics are down 38%.

At Iraq's border with Jordan, trucks laden with used cars are lined up next to tractor-trailers piled high with boxes of televisions and other electronics. Merchandise also is being shipped in from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates through the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.

Compact Opel automobiles are selling fast at the al-Safeer car dealership, says owner Hamid al-Najar, 34. A used one can be bought for $3,000. "If we have 10 in stock, they are sold the same day," he says. "People are paying cash only." The car is popular because it's relatively cheap and won't attract thieves like more expensive models. But imported BMWs, Mercedeses, Volkswagens and Japanese-made cars also are on display in the lot of al-Najar's dealership.

Under Saddam, only senior government employees, leaders of his ruling Baath Party and a few wealthy businessmen had enough money for anything but the essentials. Low-level government employees were cash-starved.