The economics of irrigation
There has been a considerable discussion but no debate on irrigation water. A debate is amongst informed people while a discussion is amongst ignorant and uninformed people and who have…
Economic management
Last week I was in Muzaffarabad, presenting a medium-term outlook for the economy at the strategic offsite meeting of one of Pakistan’s largest banks. The views from the conference room,…
Costly economic fault lines
By May 2013, when the PML-N government assumed office, Pakistan’s economic problems had multiplied and become very complex due to the mismanagement of the economy over a long time. The…
Common interests
For a country in which public banter about the rapaciousness of the ‘elite’ is so common, we spend very little time trying to understand what the ‘elite’ actually looks like,…
Economic policy imperatives
Given the precarious balance of payments and budgetary situation and high rate of inflation and low rate of economic growth, the PML-N government had some clear choices to make regarding…
Economic disasters in Pakistan
This might come as a surprise but it is worth exploring. How much has Pakistan spent on Board of Investment and how much foreign direct investment have they brought to…
Economic progress draws wide praise
American envoy's recent appreciation of Pakistan's brilliant economic and administrative performance is based on realistic benchmarks so it should be evaluated objectively ie in the realistic perspective. Take into account…
West stumbles as autocratic force trumps economics
A quarter-century after the fall of the Soviet Union, authoritarian rulers such as Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad are showing they can and will defy international norms, suppress dissent and…
In search of prudent economics
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is a well-intentioned leader and seems to be genuinely interested in taking the economy out of its existing state of stagflation, which has made the economic…
Thoughtless economics
The international agencies have done it yet again with us. They have taken us to the brink before and they will do so now. The reform decisions of Musharraf's time…
