Budget & tax policy
‘The impact of economic growth on the lives of people is partly a matter of income distribution, but it also depends greatly on the use that is made of the…
A mission-oriented industrial policy
‘While it is generally true that mainstream economists have responded to industrial policy with knee-jerk hostility since at least the 1970s, things have been changing fast, owing to new academic…
Paradigm shift in tax policy
‘The impact of economic growth on the lives of people is partly a matter of income distribution, but it also depends greatly on the use that is made of the…
Petrol, people and policy
The ‘tough’ and ‘bold’ decisions that this government was being urged to take are finally here. In fact, ‘shock therapy’ would be the more appropriate term to describe the government’s…
Monetary policy: chasing vs targeting inflation
The statement from Dr. Murtaza Syed, Acting Governor the SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) that monetary policy ‘will not risk creating economic recession to bring inflation down and real positive…
Beyond neoliberal and pro-cyclical policy
‘It is well known that the old model of austerity does not work. Not only does it cause the economy to contract and inflict excessive hardship on the population; it…
IMF prescriptions
As expected, the PTI government succeeded in passing both the Finance (Supplementary) Bill and the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021 from the National Assembly. The opposition made fiery…
Policy rate: ‘boldest’ hike in Asia
Dr Reza Baqir, Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), during his interview to Bloomberg on 17 December stated that the apex bank would “pause” interest rate hikes to preserve economic…
Pragmatism as policy
SINCE the mid 1970s, a central concern in economic policymaking has been the transition from state control of the economy towards the free market. While some variant of this conversation…
Innovative policy design
In any contemporary complex policy landscape, it is practically impossible to devise that singular ‘silver bullet’ policy that will then go on to address all major public issues quickly and…
