Samuelson versus Friedman
Successive governments in Pakistan, since independence, have been promising to turn the country into a social welfare state. But the socio-economic policies that each of these governments framed and implemented,…
IMF’s 2024 Article IV report, and debate on inflation—I
‘Annex VI. From boom-bust to stabilization: monetary policy and business cycles in Pakistan’ published in the October 2024 report by International Monetary Fund (IMF) titled ‘Article IV consultation and request…
Time to end neoliberal monetary policy well overdue
‘This chapter has shown that the NMPC [New Monetary Policy Consensus] is limited in four important ways. Firstly, it is based on doubtful assumptions, unwarranted generalisations, overly optimistic expectations about…
Uraan Pakistan: if wishes were horses
The Uraan Pakistan seems more like a wish list than a practical roadmap, listing ambitious growth targets without detailing how to achieve them. This is not the first time such…
Use of technology to deal with illegal spectrum of economy in effective manner
“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” - Alan Kay This sentiment captures the essence of Pakistan’s ongoing journey through a landscape marred by deep-seated corruption…
Milei, Argentina and Pakistan
ARGENTINA, in many respects, resembles Pakistan. Once the superstar economy of South America doing reasonably well, it has had to go through repeated economic turmoil through decades, making it a familiar…
Squeezing lemons: the fallout of lazy reforms
The government is resorting to lazy reforms, putting pressure on the known and compliant while ignoring systemic inefficiencies. This is glaringly evident in the power sector, where Independent Power Producers…
Our ‘Chicago boys’
IN 1973, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet rolled out neoliberal economic policies with the promise of reforming the economy. Backed by top minds from the influential University of Chicago’s School…
Our Latin American slide
After a CIA- and MI6-orchestrated campaign of mass killing and ‘purges’ in Indonesia in the 1960s that left an estimated upward of one million Indonesians dead, the attention of the…
Modern money & inflation
MILTON Friedman was a powerful magician. His words charmed people into believing that night was day, against the evidence of their own eyes. Friedman’s maxim that “inflation is everywhere and…
