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Shabir Ahmed

In the name of the poor
Opinion

In the name of the poor

How easily our worldview mutates. How quickly our hierarchy of ambition gets rehashed and reset. All it takes is an invisible microbe.
Published 21 May, 2020 12:09am
The IPPs' curse
Opinion

The IPPs' curse

The recent "un-official" release of the Report by the Muhammad Ali Khan Committee on Power Sector has given the scandal hungry predators another target to feast upon. This Report fits right into a certain political and some TV channels' populist narrative
Published 14 May, 2020 12:04am
The politics of employment
Opinion

The politics of employment

Robust macroeconomic fundamentals lead to one ultimate goal: jobs. At least that is the theory. You go through the hoops of fiscal consolidation, current account balance, debt sustainability, and manageable inflation to get to sustained economic growth, t
Published 07 May, 2020 12:02am
Your weekly columnist: an endangered species?
Opinion

Your weekly columnist: an endangered species?

Once upon a time there was news; compact and closely orchestrated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Fake news was unheard of; just plain vanilla dispensed by the government. The newspapers read like compendia of badly drafted government han
Published 23 Apr, 2020 02:53am
The growing costs of indecisiveness
Opinion

The growing costs of indecisiveness

Would it be stating the obvious to say the fear of economic losses is hand-wrestling with the fear of losing lives? The see-saw of living and making a living is leaving us paralysed? As Ezra Klien quipped, it is hard to decide which is scarier: conversati
Published 16 Apr, 2020 12:00am
Self-isolated reflections: export prospects
Opinion

Self-isolated reflections: export prospects

Several years ago a zealous head of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) decided to emblazon all EPB ads with the logo "Export or perish". His boss, the Commerce Secretary, thought that was going over the top and the logo was withdrawn.
Published 09 Apr, 2020 12:00am
The good go early
Opinion

The good go early

The world was fixated with Coronavirus, computing human and economic losses. For Mansoor Hassan Siddiqui summons from the Almighty came in a different form: a weird gas explosion at home. He was rushed to PIMS and the Doctors there did all they could but
Updated 27 Nov, 2022 07:11pm
Exports in the time of coronavirus
Opinion

Exports in the time of coronavirus

While we can't quite decide if we are too worried about coronavirus or not worried enough, the Government knows which way Exports are heading. Adviser Commerce, who last month was celebrating that month's growth numbers, is now projecting negative growth.
Published 26 Mar, 2020 12:00am
Discretion and its discontents
Opinion

Discretion and its discontents

Administrative discretion is unavoidable. Problems, circumstances, administrators are all too complex to be straitjacketed into laws and regulations. "Where law ends (administrative) discretion begins" is how the father of administrative law Kenneth Davis
Published 12 Mar, 2020 12:00am
The good, the bad, and the mysterious
Opinion

The good, the bad, and the mysterious

The staff-level agreement with the IMF, the seemingly unstoppable coronavirus, and Khaqan Abbasi opening his heart out, have been hogging the media space. Together, it has been a spell-binding mystery novel that you rip through, developing your theories o
Published 05 Mar, 2020 12:00am
What goes around comes around
Opinion

What goes around comes around

"Who so diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him" (Bible 26:27) It is pertinent to remind our politicians, busy digging holes and throwing stones, of this eminently sensible biblical proverb. Will they ever le
Published 27 Feb, 2020 12:00am
Collective amnesia to controlled minds
Opinion

Collective amnesia to controlled minds

The country will soon be 73 years old. That's the age you enter a room looking for something and forget what you had come looking for. Your memory becomes more selective, more nostalgic, more wanting to believe what you want to and not the inconvenient tr
Published 20 Feb, 2020 12:00am
All roads lead to Beijing
Opinion

All roads lead to Beijing

There is one area where all are on the same page: Export growth. Everyone is for it. The trouble is not everyone reads the page the same way. How else do you explain the numbers? The tug of war within the government is quite apparent: the pious part promi
Published 13 Feb, 2020 12:00am
Alice in Cuckoo Land
Opinion

Alice in Cuckoo Land

Alice Wells is a professional diplomat, trained in the art of nuances. One would imagine the power she represents allows her to speak softly, without having to show the stick. Blustering Trump is no Theodore Roosevelt. His weapon of choice is brashness, n
Published 06 Feb, 2020 12:00am
Economy: the speech we won't hear
Opinion

Economy: the speech we won't hear

Independent Economists tell us situation is dire. The government tells us we are well on our way. Economists do not see an early possibility of growth if current policy direction persists. The government insists stabilization now secured we are ready to t
Published 30 Jan, 2020 12:00am
What's with the Police anyways?
Opinion

What's with the Police anyways?

Between a Khawaja and an Imam Sindh Government has lost more than face. Government's writ stands challenged. It brings into question the provincial government's right to control, direct, and hold accountable its civil servants, including those placed at i
Published 23 Jan, 2020 12:00am
Is errant leadership alone to blame?
Opinion

Is errant leadership alone to blame?

Theories abound why the government is directionless. Little gets done, notwithstanding government's stirring renewals of resolve. Gap between promise and performance is growing. A Government's real currency is its credibility. It has got sharply devalued.
Published 16 Jan, 2020 12:00am
Islamabad: is the fog lifting?
Opinion

Islamabad: is the fog lifting?

Is it for real? Does 2020 promise the tabdeeli we had all given up on? Well, not quite the tabdeeli that was made a song and dance of around the container, but sleeping with the enemy one. Suddenly, the screams of thieves and dacoits from one side and sho
Published 09 Jan, 2020 12:00am
Exports: the lesser god on govt's totem pole
Opinion

Exports: the lesser god on govt's totem pole

The consensus opinion is that current account will rear its head again, sooner rather than later, if exports remain sluggish. We also hear Ministry of Commerce knows it and is expending a lot of energyto find a way for exports to climb the greasy pole.
Published 02 Jan, 2020 12:00am