Miftah rails against rent-seekers

Former finance minister Miftah Ismail said on Monday Pakistan is “intolerant as hell” and “belligerently uneducated” as the elite capture of resources has left no space for reforms. Speaking at Habib University, the businessman-turned-politician wore the hat of an economics professor to talk to students in the uneasy presence of the educational institute’s rich benefactors who have “invented their own economies” in an otherwise poor country. He referred to the families of the Dawoods and Habibs — some of their members sat in the front row — as evidence of poor upward social mobility in Pakistan. They’re the richest Pakistanis of today just like their fathers were the richest Pakistanis of yesteryear, he said. “What shot at success does the son of an ordinary Pakistani have against my son?” he asked, rhetorically. Mr Ismail’s address mostly consisted of views and anecdotes that he’s already told many times over — word for word, in some cases — since his latest five-month stint at the top of the finance ministry. He reiterated the I-saved-Pakistan-from-default message while calling the idea of the finance ministry controlling the exchange rate “nuts”.