Tax the rich
The Human Development Report 2013 just released by the United Nations Development Programme highlights the rise of the Global South, comprising 130 developing countries, as the main drivers of the…
PTI settles ideologically
Right-wing is used for being conservative and pro-rich in economic policy making as well as being conservative and pro-religion in social policy making. The ‘confused conservatism’, which was taken for…
FATF and AML compliance requirements
1. Legal Measures: Criminalization of Offences, Investigations and Prosecutions: FATF recommendations require Criminalization of money laundering through domestic legislation.1 The recommendations also provide to specify the scope of liability in…
Long haul ahead for Britain’s struggling economy
When the financial crisis began to spread five years ago, British coffee machine-maker Fracino raced to get ahead of it. From the firm's base in Birmingham, it carved out new…
The office of denial
There is a difference between a good and a bad finance minister: the former keeps his nation informed about the true state of the economy and prepares public opinion for…
Financial tsunami
Political tsunami, as popularised by Imran Khan, is now well-known in Pakistan. What is not known is ‘financial tsunami’, which has struck Pakistani shores in the last two weeks. This…
Foreign investment
Four features of Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s budget stand out. First, thanks to its obsession with reducing the fiscal deficit, the budget fails to raise social-sector expenditure – just when…
Between peril and promise
What is the state of Pakistan`s economy? Or, perhaps of greater relevance, the broader state of the `union`? Each year, the highly-regarded and widely followed annual report of the State…
It is patronage, stupid!
The story goes that the Italian Christian Democratic Party had a very elaborate system of patronage and vote-buying. It devised innovative methods to ensure that people voted as per promise…
The hidden economy
Going by the numbers alone, it would appear that no significant economic activity takes place west of the Indus. Look at the provincial GDP numbers, the revenue figures and you…
