Preventing floods due to large rain events
The engineers are at it again. They want the engineering works to start on Kalabagh Dam [KPK] and Bhasha dam [BD]. Why? They understand that stored water is probably the…
How the NSC should operate
The just reconstituted Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) as Cabinet Committee on National Security (CCNS) is an exercise in futility because it is not structured and empowered to carry…
Who should provide social services?
IT is remarkable that the governments of Pakistan and India have not been able to ensure essential social services for their citizens public health and education are in shambles. As…
Financing Pakistan’s future
Walk through the working-class neighbourhoods of Pakistan and you will see the economic engine of our nation. Individually, the mom-and-pop food stall, tailoring shop, or rickshaw repair may hardly look…
Detroit filing sends benefits’ warning to other cities
Many US cities have a much better economic outlook than struggling Detroit, but the Motor City's bankruptcy filing on Thursday should still set off alarm bells elsewhere as the cost…
An economy of shortages!
Austerity economics that has prevailed in Pakistan has created an economy shortage (a term coined by the Hungarian economist, Janos Kornai) and is choking growth and employment. This is not…
Faulty gas distribution to invite food crisis
Power shortage haunts Pakistan and its political leadership with increasing intensity as Pakistan's majority the Muslim population enters the holy month of Ramazan. The experts estimate that electricity shortages cost…
The energy challenge
OVERCOMING Pakistan`s energy crisis has been proclaimed as the highest priority by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s government. The recommendations issued by the Pakistan Visionary Forum`s energy experts at their Lahore…
Dominant borrower
Beneath all the commentary on the details and implications of the recently concluded talks with the IMF, an important analysis has gone largely unremarked, save for one insightful article. It…
An ambitious budget
Budget 2013-14 has been announced on time by the PML-N government - only five days after the swearing in of the cabinet. This clearly shows a great sense of urgency.…
