News

Political game of chicken

The game of chickens in the political arena can lead to economic malaise; the United States is on the verge of it. The deadlock between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy has amplified the severity of the question, “Is the US really going towards a default? This question, even its imagination, is enough to send chills down the spine, for the aftermaths of the ‘unlikely’ US default is going

Stifling the private sector

Societies leaning towards capitalism have small governments that provide essential public goods to the people, formulate policy and leave the rest to the imagination and executing capabilities of the private sector. Governments in most developing countries, on the other hand, continue to be large. Investment in these countries is low, and the loss in the investment share of the GDP is either pi

Imported bites

Dal is a humble meal. Be it the big boss man opting for a light meal in his air-conditioned office or his guard sweating in boots with a gun on his back, dal is ubiquitous across the country. Repeated calls for imported substitution and increased localisation of mobiles and cars seem to overlook that almost every bite consumed by any Pakistani is made of imported goods. Whether pulses, palm oil

Chopping and stretching finances

In Greek mythology, Procrustes was a unique character known for his obsession of making his guests fit perfectly in his iron bed. His methodology, however, was disturbingly brutal. He altered his guests, not the bed. If a guest was too tall, he’d cut their legs off. If they were too short, he’d stretch them until they occupied the bed entirely. As peculiar as his method was, Procrustes achieved hi

Centre allows Sindh to earn $200m through carbon credits

In the abs­ence of an approved policy, the federal government has allowed Sindh to earn $200-220 million (abo­ut Rs57-63 billion) of carbon credits over the next two decades for its efforts to expand mangrove forests under Pakis­tan’s commitments for unconditional contribution to a global drive for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In 2021, the Ministry of Climate Change submitted the national