We know what happened to the social fabric of the country every time this story played out in the past. You give me legitimacy and I destroy my country to watch out for your strategic goals: Ayub, Zia, Musharraf and now Munir.

This mess will ultimately playout in Pakistan. Balkanization of Iran will shift conversation to balkanization of Pakistan (Balochistan). Pak's nuclear capacity will be the perfect excuse for this.

Remittances are an imp part of Pak economy. However, while policymakers celebrate these, I use PSLM data to show that they also shift resources from tradable to non-tradable sectors, pushing Pak into a high remittance, low productivity trap. Read here: eag.org.pk/eag-briefs/

In its eagerness to always follow the US, UK govt may even reach Iran border before everyone else to welcome them.

It appears that the protection of auto sector will continue for longer under the pretext of 2021 Auto Policy. However, the level of protection enjoyed by much of the Auto sector is far greater than what the policy may have suggested. For motor cars, these add to more than 100%.

The government recently introduced tariff reforms. EAG Pakistan strongly advocates such reforms as it believes these are much needed to push for higher economic growth in Pakistan. Unfortunately, this effort will fall short of expectations if the tariff reforms are to be

I'm often baffled by how quickly otherwise-critical Pakistanis (including some on the Left) will buy into state narratives about Balochistan--the acceptance of conspiracy theories with no proof, the lack of sympathy for the Baloch, the continuous silence about state atrocities...

the heart bleeds, the soul weeps the thirst, the desire, to kiss his feet! O Hussain, O Ibn-e-Ali tu shaan meri, imaan mayra tarap meri, maqam mayra! deed tayri, naseeb mayra rah tayri, safr mayra! O Hussain, O Ibn-e-Ali Nawasa e Muhammad al-'Arabi! youtube.com/watch?v=yTPJOi…

The conventional wisdom is that education is the surest path to both prosperity and social mobility. Yet, in Pakistan’s context, this remains far from true.  We face an education crisis that betrays the aspirations of the nation’s youth. In this EAG Pakistan brief, Ahmed Jamal Pirzada

That is quite nice. From Bristol EDI training.

It's time young economists come to the fore, and here is Nadeem Haque talking to Ahmed Jamal Pirzada about the human capital flight from Pakistan, the discipline of Economics and much more in the latest episode of #SIAconversation. youtu.be/ArkpxzdwQAk?si…

worth reading, good analysis and insight dawn.com/news/1924927/i… for those interested in the political economy perspective, do see Partha Chatterjee's The Politics of the Governed, and his Lineages of Political Society Nadeem Haque

In Pak context, large inflow of remittances only worsen the long-term problem. It shifts resources to less dynamic sectors like construction, undermining future growth prospects. This is better described as a high-remittance, low-productivity trap. See: eag.org.pk/eag-briefs/#fl…

This is our third year of the EAG Associate Programme and it has been worth all the effort. Four intense workshops, guest talks from international/national experts, and networking event which link you with the broader community. Have a look and apply: form.jotform.com/251975572601360

Ah, the relatively good old days when the conversation was only about disenfranchising the overseas Pakistanis. It ended with disenfranchising everyone, handing over the economy to the military, arguing how democracy doesnt work, and cheerleading the junta. The spinning!

Do Trump's threats to fire Chair Powell damage central bank independence and diminish the credibility of monetary policy? Our new paper (w/ Ganesh Viswanath Natraj, Junxuan Wang and Zijie Wang) shows that the answer is yes. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…