Italy election punches hole in ECB’s euro defences
A dramatic anti-austerity vote leaves Italy lying outside the fortress the European Central Bank constructed around the euro zone last year and vulnerable to a market attack. This week's election…
View Point: Controversial figure
Do you know who the following three personages were: Hafeez Jalandhari, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Ashfaq Ahmed? "Of course", you're most likely to say, "Hafeez is the man who gave…
Karzai’s latest charges
In what was termed a routine meeting of the Afghan National Security Council on Sunday President Hamid Karzai instructed his ministers of defence, interior and foreign affairs to take “immediate…
Trading profit
If everybody produced the same things, trade would be limited to raw materials. While the smirking laymen is indulged, economic pundits can hardly challenge the afore-stated assertion as baseless. In…
The real tragedy
The Finance Division has released its "Year Book 2011-12" which, besides citing heavy line losses, incomplete corporatisation, weak governance, costly fuel mix, and delays in bill payments, points to partial…
What ails the SBP?
The amendments made to Section 9 of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Act in 1994, 1997 and 2012 have redefined the role and responsibilities of the Central Board of…
The hoopla on 62 and 63
Articles 62 and 63 of Pakistan’s constitution is the new proverbial hydra of Pakistan’s multifaceted internal challenges. Introduced into the constitution by the now much-reviled Ziaul Haq, the articles call…
Double standards of justice
If it were not for injustice, stressed Greek philosopher Heraclitus, men wouldn’t know justice. Indian Supreme Court’s judgement handing a five-year sentence to superstar Sanjay Dutt under the Arms Act…
Rent-seeking and governance
There is no denying the penetration of rent-seeking in the country. It is reflected in multiple forms and manifestations. The elite ie landlords, industrialists, top civil and military bureaucracy are…
Creative economics
No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.-Voltaire The concept implied by the title may appear nefarious, perhaps even prejudiced, coming from someone whose origins lie in a profession,…
