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Category Archives: Policy
Failure all around
A version of this article was published in Dawn on June 8, 2011. It was written after the PNS Mehran attacks and before the murder of Syed Saleem Shahzad. We Pakistanis – even those of us who have become cynical … Continue reading
Posted in Pakistan, Policy, Politics
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Missing the policy window
Conspiracy theories about what actually happened on the outskirts of Abbottabad on the 1st of May aside, one of the upshots of those events has been a more open re-examination (at least in some of the English language dailies) of … Continue reading
Posted in Pakistan, Policy, Politics
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Storm in a teacup
A version of this article was published in Dawn on May 8, 2011 I never read ‘Three cups of tea’. Something about its ‘white man stumbles upon brown misery, then sets about correcting it using his all-American heartland gusto, saving … Continue reading
If wishes were horses…
In his column in Dawn, Akbar Zaidi argues against the need for further IMF loans for Pakistan: At the moment, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, which include previously lent IMF money, are sufficient, and while some international payments need to be … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Pakistan, Policy, Politics
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And justice for all
A version of this article was published in Dawn on March 24, 2011. The legal drama of the ‘Raymond Davis killings’ (is that a suitable moniker for the event?) was brought to an end under the Shara’i mechanism of Diyat … Continue reading
Addressing Pakistan’s energy problems
Two pieces in the Express-Tribune address Pakistan’s ongoing energy worries today. Targeting the gaping hole in energy finance, which has led to the infamous circular debt problem, Shoaib Hamid argues for reducing line losses as opposed to increasing tariffs. He … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Pakistan, Policy, South Asia
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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
Posted in Economics, Pakistan, Policy
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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
Posted in Economics, Pakistan, Policy
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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
Reform or bust
A version of this article was published in Dawn on January 21, 2011. The government’s financial squeeze continues unabated after recent attempts by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led administration to alleviate pressure on the public coffers came to naught. … Continue reading