Zakat as non-state social welfare
THE last few years have proven to be immensely difficult for low-income households in Pakistan. High rates of inflation and low economic growth have exacerbated poverty and heightened the importance…
Towards a new eco-social contract
At the recent UNFPA Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference, I had the honour of moderating a panel discussion on demographic diversity. The panel discussion delved into the complexities of developing new business…
Social breakdown
DUE to a variety of factors, inflation is rampant, and many economists do not see any relief in sight. There is a need to understand more about the impact of…
Women in social cohesion
The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Index 2021 ranks Pakistan at 153 out of 156 countries. Categorised on indicators of social cohesion including education attainment, health and survival, economic participation…
Decline of social democracy
In the last two decades, social democratic parties have been in severe electoral decline. While they were a major force in West European politics for much of the post-war period,…
Economic and social survey for Asia and the Pacific 2017: Effective governance key to economic growth
The Asia-Pacific region's high and steady economic growth has been an anchor of stability for the struggling world economy in recent years. Developing economies of the region now account for…
Natural disaster, social catastrophe
Pakistan’s economy is vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Pakistan, in 2016, stood at the fifth highest in the list of countries facing climate risk, according to the…
Strengthening growth with social equity
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has developed a new metric of national economic performance as an alternative to GDP - the Inclusive Development Index (IDI) - which focuses on living…
Governance – the dark aspects thereof
After the comments of the CoAS about 'governance' became common knowledge, for the past fortnight official spokesmen have been busy pointing out how "good" has been the governance of the…
Economic and social sums do not add up
The dos and donts of economics have to be understood before unilateral decisions are taken. Increasingly, the perfunctory nature of the decisions are coming out in the economy. The USA…
