No simple choice
THE situation is not just about talks vs operation. The plot is far more complex than it appears. At the moment, an operation seems to be the better option; but…
US public pensions need more than investment windfall
Double-digit annual returns for most US public pension systems over the past two years have done little to shrink the yawning deficits facing many of them after a decade of…
View Point: Countering extremist narrative
It was his sheer presence of mind and some luck that journalist and television commentator Raza Rumi ducked down in his car on hearing gunshots and survived a terrorist attack…
‘Too Big to Fail’ still thriving
Five years after Lehman Brothers' seismic bust and just two years after euro member Greece defaulted, the concept of being too big or too strategic to fail is alive and…
The economics of privatisation
Pakistan is willing to sell its silver. Why? The probable reason is that these public sector institutions have been very inefficient and are bleeding the economy. There are very many…
Child miners pay the price in Burkina Faso’s gold rush
Perched on the edge of a mine shaft, Joel Sawadogo, 13, readies the fragile plastic lamp strapped to his forehead with an elastic band as he prepares to lower himself…
Trade with India: why oppose it?
Narendra Modi, known for his unrepentant virulent anti-Pakistan stance, has a clear lead in opinion polls, and is widely expected to be India's next Prime Minister. His latest tirade against…
Egypt’s bread ‘smart cards’: financial miracle for age-old problem?
A device resembling a credit card swiper is revolutionising some of Egypt's politically explosive bread lines and may help achieve the impossible - cutting crippling food import bills. Authorities who…
Canada oil patent suits stir fears of technology slowdown
A subtle shift is under way in the Canadian oil industry, where collegial collaboration over vital new extraction technology is yielding to corporate protectionism in the race to profit from…
Taxation challenge
In the fiscal year 2012-13, FBR miserably failed to collect the three times downward-revised budget. The massive shortfall of Rs 444 billion forced the government to borrow more money to…
