Monthly Archives: February 2011

Pakistan and India: divided by commerce

The Washington Post’s Karen Bruilliard presents a brief, but telling, analysis of Pakistan-India trade (or the lack thereof): “Pakistan and India share language, culture, history and an 1,800-mile border; they are South Asia’s largest economies. What they barely share is … Continue reading

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Pak-Afghan Transit Trade agreement on hold

Implementation of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) is on hold indefinitely. According to an official at the Ministry of Commerce (Pakistan), the hold up is because of a disagreement between the two sides about how to guarantee goods imported … Continue reading

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Balance and structure

Two different pieces on Pakistan’s economic troubles: Meekal A. Ahmed, in The Express-Tribune, warns against putting off fiscal reform due to misplaced comfort in the fleetingly good balance of payments situation: “Experience teaches, however, that a seemingly comfortable cushion of … Continue reading

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The market and the state

A version of this article was published in Dawn on February 8, 2011 In introductory economics courses, economic systems are explained by using the two extreme (and mostly theoretical) examples of the “command economy” and the “laissez-faire economy”. The former … Continue reading

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Reassessing the discourse on Pakistan’s economy

I posted S. Akbar Zaidi’s piece from Dawn, here yesterday, in which he questioned the doomsayers predicting imminent economic collapse in Pakistan. Following quickly on the heals of that article is Ishrat Hussain‘s piece in today’s Dawn: Disconnects and mismatches: … Continue reading

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Paul Krugman on the increases in world food prices

Paul Krugman provides an analysis of world food production and why food prices are increasing: “Here are some percentage changes in world grain production between 2008/2009 and 2010/2011, according to the USDA estimates: USDA “Overall grain production is down — … Continue reading

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Is there an economic collapse coming?

S. Akbar Zaidi (author of Issues in Pakistan’s Economy) questions the doomsayers on Pakistan’s economy: “In the last few weeks, every single newspaper has carried dozens of articles and editorials about the state of Pakistan`s economy. The economy is seen … Continue reading

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