The profundity of economic power
The US has warned of potential sanctions for any country considering business deals with Iran hours after India signed a 10-year contract with Iran to operate the Chabahar port. In…
The primacy of economic power
As the nation gears up for the general elections, it is of the utmost importance for Pakistan’s leadership and opinion-makers to debate and determine the priorities to be followed and…
Winds of change shift Germany’s economic power northwards
Germany’s wet and windswept north has long lacked the economic appeal of the industrial south but the green transition and an energy crisis sparked by war in Ukraine is shifting…
Karachi: economic powerhouse
Two news items last week prompted me to write on the economy of Karachi, the country’s largest city and its economic hub. These are: * The data relating to exports…
Power sector: Economics and politics
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that he would win the March 2018 elections by a landslide if his administration succeeds in meeting the energy shortfall…
Economic cost of power shortage
IT is all too apparent that human existence is dependent on electricity in this day and age. Hence even a few hours of load-shedding causes enormous hardship and loss to…
Reason and power in economic policies?
In the civil service, the tendency now is to take orders as they come and to meet the requirements of the powerbase. That has led to many difficulties for the…
Power of narratives
NARRATIVES have, for millennia, shaped the way societies and nations create identities, forge empires, develop breakthrough technologies, and overcome challenges. The story of the Iron Age transformation in the Biblical-Quranic…
Power without devolution
In our earlier reflection on Pakistan’s failing governance architecture, we diagnosed how the absence of functional local governments has eroded democratic accountability. But to fully understand why local governance has…
The flawed economics of the IGCEP
One of the ten commandments for electricity planning is ‘Thou Shalt Not Expand Electricity Supply Without Industrial Demand’. New power plants become stranded, costly monuments to poor planning without industrial…
