Less than 30 months ago Egypt was brimming with enthusiasm and optimism. Not only had it ended three decades of Mubarak rule, but it had done so essentially peacefully and at the hands of young Egyptian professionals who, it was believed, could walk Egypt toward a freer and more prosperous future. Today, the country is politically polarized and it faces the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. A severe sense of frustration and dark pessimism prevails throughout the nation. Expectations may have been unrealistically exaggerated, but amateurish and unscrupulous political and economic mishandling of the transition is the root cause of the dire state of affairs today.