Economic diplomacy: the elusive target
At least once every two years Ambassadors from selected countries get together for the Envoys conference. Almost always economic diplomacy is top of the agenda. From Prime Minister down they…
The PTI’s economic strategy
Let us compile a list of common ‘irritants’ and ‘disincentives’ in our economy. Costly raw material and stuck sales tax refund are the major irritants for exporters. Reporting fatigue is…
Economic geology of CPEC: Part – II
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) did not appear in a historical vacuum, but rather emerged from the womb of historical continuum. Building upon China’s historical connections with the Pakistani side…
Economic development and the university
Development research over the last three decades has established two propositions that have major implications for redefining the role of a university. First, a distinguishing feature between developed and underdeveloped…
Economic facts vs political fiction
Facts speak, and they speak louder than what we say. Slogans and Speeches are the advertising tools for political selling but Economic facts are the core product that eventually determines…
Rethinking economics
Nobel laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz had made a rather telling comment during a seminar some years ago. Stiglitz had said that the recent world economic crisis had done to the…
Persons, systems and situations
An oxymoron is defined as a figure of speech wherein seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. British writer Thomas Gibbons characterised it as “sense in the masquerade of folly”.…
Poverty and economic policies: Part – II
In the first part of this article, I made general points on how economic systems and policies are directly related to the level of poverty in society. In this part,…
The roots of recurrent economic crises
Once again, the symptoms of a financial crisis have become apparent. Over the last year, the deficit on the current account of the balance of payments has shot up by…
The profundity of latest economic literature
Pakistan's federal finance ministers have generally opted for those policies/reforms that are supported by multilaterals/bilaterals that are politically the least challenging - as it facilitates borrowing - or implement outdated…
