Some important economic policy questions
The first important policy question facing policymakers is how much role aggregate demand plays in determining inflation? This needs a clear presentation of analysis by policymakers, since the way inflation…
SDR allocation of $650bn – important but inadequate
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved allocation of US$650 billion, which is worth 456 billion of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) – a reserve asset that recipient countries could convert into…
China curbs gold imports as trade war heats up
China has severely restricted imports of gold since May, bullion industry sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in a move that could be aimed at curbing outflows…
Women’s quotas in the SC
In May 2016, Senator Babar Awan (PPP) introduced a bill in the Senate mandating a 33pc quota of women judges in the Supreme Court through an amendment of the Supreme…
Merit vs quotas
Economists, as a rule, do not like quota systems. They view all kinds of quotas – import quota, export quota or any other sort of quota used for the rationing…
Managing the BoP
Pakistan today faces an incipient financial crisis. Gross foreign exchange reserves of the SBP stand at $10.8 billion as of the 8th of April. They have plummeted by $5.5 billion…
A delicate balance: Toyota took care to make offering to US before China deals
Toyota Motor Corp last month announced two deals in China that were small in size but large in strategic planning. The automaker said it would establish a green-tech research institute…
Venezuelan oil, masked as Malaysian, rushes into China before fuel tax
Traders are racing to deliver record volumes of Venezuelan crude oil masked as Malaysian bitumen blend to China, ahead of new fuel taxes that look set to upend the lucrative…
Trump’s NAFTA revamp would require concessions, may borrow from TPP
President-elect Donald Trump's plan to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to make it "a lot better" for US workers would not be a one-way street for his…
Beef corruption scandal transfixes Indonesia
Indonesia is no stranger to corruption scandals, but the latest case has all the necessary ingredients: an Islamist politician with a penchant for big cars, an alleged accomplice arrested in…
