What’s a tangible improvement for Iraq that John McCain might want to trumpet during the campaign?  It’s got nothing to do with troop levels or timetables — but everything to do with Iraq’s economy.  McCain should work on ways to improve Iraq’s stock market.

I was struck by how clunky and backward Iraq’s stock exchange is after this item in the February issue of Money:

Question: A friend told me the Iraq Stock Exchange is open for business. How do I buy shares that trade there? Also, how safe and secure is it? - Bryce Frederickson, Lawton, Okla.

Answer: Investing in Iraq takes some effort. Given the risks and costs, though, maybe that’s just as well. The ISX didn’t respond to e-mails, so Answer Guy consulted with Björn Englund, manager of the British Virgin Islands-based Babylon Fund - not open to individuals in the U.S. - which invests in Iraqi securities.

You’ll have to open an account with an Iraqi brokerage (Englund uses Commercial Bank of Iraq). And to do that, you’ll first need to get a copy of your passport notarized, then certified by Iraq’s U.S. embassy. (For more information go to isx-iq.net, where you can try to decipher the exchange’s baffling instructions.)

Once you’ve got an account, well, you’re not in Oklahoma anymore - and not just because you’re investing in a war zone. Only a minority of the 90-odd listed stocks trade even once a week. Commissions and spreads between bid and ask prices are large; company news, says Englund, “is late or absent.”

The fund manager figures the ISX should get a boost once telecom and oil service companies start trading. Still, he warns, you should invest money in Iraq only if you won’t mind losing it.

Helping Iraq improve its stock market — now there’s a way for John McCain to combine strong Iraq and growth-oriented economic policies.