Pakistan on the global stage
“We will eat grass, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own”. With those words, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto gave Pakistan not only its nuclear programme but…
Resetting economic governance
We have lost count of experiments conducted to resolve challenges confronted by our economy. However, except interludes of relative stability, the economy has kept faltering with breathing space provided by…
New economic frontier
For decades, Pakistan’s government and bureaucratic systems have been viewed as mired in red tape and resistant to innovation. The country’s administrative machinery, both within and from outside the country,…
Literature hostage to the elite
There was a time when literature throbbed with the heartbeat of the people, a time when the pens of writers shook empires, exposed social inequalities and sparked revolutions. Literature was…
Can Pakistan avoid economic collapse?
The looming spectre of a food crisis and economic instability poses a significant threat to Pakistan, as the nation grapples with alarming projections for the forthcoming decades. By the year…
Domestic economic thought, profession, and ‘dual-track’ pricing mechanism
Although Pakistan came into existence at a time when there was a deeply renewed focus on economic thought process globally in the wake of establishment of Bretton Woods institutions a…
People, economics and security
The slight improvement in Pakistan's economy is welcome — especially as it comes some months before the next budget is due. Everyone in Pakistan wishes for nothing more than an…
Silencing the stage
The Punjab government's decision to impose a lifetime ban on theatre artists and dancers accused of ‘obscenity’ is an alarming throwback to the state's long history of suppressing cultural expression.…
Politics and economics
This is the first of a two-part series focusing on the symbiotic relationship between politics and economics, with existing literature focusing more on domestic policies premised on globalization representative of…
Trump’s economic nationalism
Right-wing populist Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the 2024 US presidential election is expected to fuel a resurgence of economic nationalism in the US. The 21st century has witnessed a…
