Patient surge as Ghana’s doctors strike
Thywill Tamakhe waited in frustration at a military hospital in Accra for a bed to become available for her father, as Ghana's public sector doctors' strike over pay entered a…
The ESCAP survey
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) launched its flagship document – the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2013 (hereafter survey)…
Pakistan’s economy – I
Alongsides is the first part of a three-part series by an economist who has reflected on his more than half a century involvement with the country's economy. Pakistan has had…
Conclusions and policy recommendations: Privatisation paradigm
Privatisation should not be pursued as an ideology, as in modern economic theory and policy there is no room for dogmatism. After the Great Recession of 2008, the neo-liberal school…
Human rights and the future
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s annual report was released last week. Unsurprisingly, it is a compendium of the country’s failures over the past year. From freedom of thought and…
Biogas potential in Pakistan
For the last five years, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources (MPNR) has been trying to implement a LNG project of a rather small capacity of 400 Billion Cubic Feet…
More of the same
Last year, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf declared 2013 as the year of the rights of the child in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the PPP-led government couldn’t take any tangible steps…
New leaders, old problems
The world is watching closely as China`s 12th National People`s Congress prepares to confirm the appointment of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang as the country`s president and premier respectively. China`s…
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…
The polio tipping point
Early this month, tragedy struck Pakistan’s polio eradication campaign once again with the killing of another two polio workers and a policeman on patrol with the vaccination teams. The latest…
