The people of Pakistan are beaten by frightening inflation and rising prices, and now the terror attacks on the mosques and Milad processions. Obviously, there is sadness and discomfort in the air. The poor are trying to cling on to any last piece of hope and for that they are desperately trying to find any reason and light whatsoever they can find
The IMF is a monster and there is no doubt about it; it has ruined many low-income countries and a lot has been written about the harms it has done to developing nations and emerging economies and how it has pushed millions into poverty through its straight-jacket approach where one size fits all is the rule.
Based on Erik Reinert, How Rich Countries Got Rich ... and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor (2007), London: Constable, Chapter 8: “Get the economic activities right”, or, the Lost Art of Creating Middle-Income Countries. Further discussion on how to make upper-middle income county out of middle-income trap. And how to synchronize different aspect on developmental policy in modern era.
“THE END OF THE AGE OF ENTITLEMENT”
ADDRESS TO THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS LONDON 17 APRIL 2012
JOE HOCKEY MP
THE END OF THE AGE OF ENTITLEMENT
INSTITUTE of ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
LONDON
The IMF is a monster and there is no doubt about it; it has ruined many low-income countries and a lot has been written about the harms it has done to developing nations and emerging economies and how it has pushed millions into poverty through its straight-jacket approach where one size fits all is the rule.
Based on Erik Reinert, How Rich Countries Got Rich ... and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor (2007), London: Constable, Chapter 8: “Get the economic activities right”, or, the Lost Art of Creating Middle-Income Countries. Further discussion on how to make upper-middle income county out of middle-income trap. And how to synchronize different aspect on developmental policy in modern era.
“THE END OF THE AGE OF ENTITLEMENT”
ADDRESS TO THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS LONDON 17 APRIL 2012
JOE HOCKEY MP
THE END OF THE AGE OF ENTITLEMENT
INSTITUTE of ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
LONDON
A presentation on the challenges we must address to better utilise the Internet to create better ways of working, learning and living; trust, payments, security, copyright and taxation.
This presentation on privatization and TIFs was given to Theresa Amato's public interest law class at the Loyola Law School. The audio is 47 minutes long. If you'd like a copy, please email tom@civiclab.us.
From Crisis to Recovery The Causes, Course and Consequences of the Great Rece...Dr Lendy Spires
OECD Insights: From Crisis to Recovery 3 Foreword The current global economic crisis was triggered by a financial crisis caused by ever-increasing thirst for short-term profit. In addition, against a background of government support for the expansion of financial markets, many people turned a blind eye to basic issues of business ethics and regulation. We now need to rewrite the rules of finance and global business. To restore the trust that is fundamental to functioning markets, we need better regulation, better supervision, better corporate governance and better co-ordination. We also need fairer social policies and an end to the bottlenecks that block competition and innovation and hamper sustainable growth. We must also find the most productive ways for governments to exit from their massive emergency interventions once the world economy is firmly back on a growth path. Dealing with fiscal deficits and unemployment while encouraging new sources of growth will absorb policy makers’ attention in the near term, but lifting our collective sights to focus on wider issues, such as the environment and development, is a challenge we must also meet. How can we move from recession to recovery? The OECD’s strategic response involves strengthening corporate governance and doing more to combat the dark sides of globalisation, such as corruption and tax evasion. As well as correcting the mistakes of the past, we have to prepare the future. We are elaborating a “Green Growth Strategy” to guide national and international policies so that all countries can realise the potential of this new approach to growth. Our analysis shows a need for governments to take a stronger lead in fostering greener production, procurement and consumption patterns by devising clearer frameworks and ensuring that markets work properly. They should drop some costly habits too, notably subsidising fossil fuels, which would help fight climate change and save money as well.
15. Pakistan's Elite and the Art of Deception 02 May 2024.pptxKashif Mateen Ansari
Pakistan's Elite and the Art of Deception
Pakistan’s governance challenges lies a political system characterized by patronage networks that prioritize personal gain, dynastic politics that perpetuate power within specific families, and weak institutional checks and balances that fail to uphold transparency and accountability.
Grid constraints in Pakistan are a result of problems like poor departmental management, a reliance on imported fossil fuels, high power generation costs, and antiquated monitoring techniques.
It's turtles all the way down.
We need to upskill our young generation in the skills that would be relevant in the next few decades. The World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos this year had one of the themes about what would be the future of work. In a study they pointed out that about a quarter of jobs today would not be there very soon due to the advances in technology, especially Artificial Intelligence.
Benjamin Franklin said, “Common sense is something that everyone needs, few have, and none think they lack.”
This is a great quotation that sums up our national dilemma. We face existential challenges on the economic front and are experiencing almost unsurmountable problems in the power and energy sectors. Many problems that we have created ourselves have outgrown to a size where handling them looks almost impossible.
Our predicament is to figure out by looking at the state of our youth, "what promise does our nation holds for the future?"
Investing in skill development makes perfect economic sense; according to a report by UNESCO, "$1 invested in youth skills can pay back after fifteen-fold in economic growth."
CEO Kashif Mateen Ansari's article discusses the risk of a great opportunity being wasted.
, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Nations emerge from the ashes of such grave events, and we are no exception. As a country we have faced war on terror and wars imposed by neighbours and economic burdens of providing refuge to millions and facing long -term economic sanctions all in a lifetime of a generation.
Moving from Failure to Failure Successfully, 18 Sep 2023.pptxKashif Mateen Ansari
‘Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm’.
Quite bemusing that we have become quite experts in moving from one failure to another without losing any enthusiasm, though the sad part is that the failures increase in size and quantum.
To understand strategy in a simple manner three questions are quite helpful. When deciding on a course of action ask these questions: What next, what next and what next. As simple as they seem but they possess a great power to challenge anyone to consider the plan of action in the light of what will be the consequences, generally all intelligent people think about the consequence of their actions before committing them, but the wise ones think in a series of these question to fully understand the ramification of their deeds.
A presentation on the challenges we must address to better utilise the Internet to create better ways of working, learning and living; trust, payments, security, copyright and taxation.
This presentation on privatization and TIFs was given to Theresa Amato's public interest law class at the Loyola Law School. The audio is 47 minutes long. If you'd like a copy, please email tom@civiclab.us.
From Crisis to Recovery The Causes, Course and Consequences of the Great Rece...Dr Lendy Spires
OECD Insights: From Crisis to Recovery 3 Foreword The current global economic crisis was triggered by a financial crisis caused by ever-increasing thirst for short-term profit. In addition, against a background of government support for the expansion of financial markets, many people turned a blind eye to basic issues of business ethics and regulation. We now need to rewrite the rules of finance and global business. To restore the trust that is fundamental to functioning markets, we need better regulation, better supervision, better corporate governance and better co-ordination. We also need fairer social policies and an end to the bottlenecks that block competition and innovation and hamper sustainable growth. We must also find the most productive ways for governments to exit from their massive emergency interventions once the world economy is firmly back on a growth path. Dealing with fiscal deficits and unemployment while encouraging new sources of growth will absorb policy makers’ attention in the near term, but lifting our collective sights to focus on wider issues, such as the environment and development, is a challenge we must also meet. How can we move from recession to recovery? The OECD’s strategic response involves strengthening corporate governance and doing more to combat the dark sides of globalisation, such as corruption and tax evasion. As well as correcting the mistakes of the past, we have to prepare the future. We are elaborating a “Green Growth Strategy” to guide national and international policies so that all countries can realise the potential of this new approach to growth. Our analysis shows a need for governments to take a stronger lead in fostering greener production, procurement and consumption patterns by devising clearer frameworks and ensuring that markets work properly. They should drop some costly habits too, notably subsidising fossil fuels, which would help fight climate change and save money as well.
15. Pakistan's Elite and the Art of Deception 02 May 2024.pptxKashif Mateen Ansari
Pakistan's Elite and the Art of Deception
Pakistan’s governance challenges lies a political system characterized by patronage networks that prioritize personal gain, dynastic politics that perpetuate power within specific families, and weak institutional checks and balances that fail to uphold transparency and accountability.
Grid constraints in Pakistan are a result of problems like poor departmental management, a reliance on imported fossil fuels, high power generation costs, and antiquated monitoring techniques.
It's turtles all the way down.
We need to upskill our young generation in the skills that would be relevant in the next few decades. The World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos this year had one of the themes about what would be the future of work. In a study they pointed out that about a quarter of jobs today would not be there very soon due to the advances in technology, especially Artificial Intelligence.
Benjamin Franklin said, “Common sense is something that everyone needs, few have, and none think they lack.”
This is a great quotation that sums up our national dilemma. We face existential challenges on the economic front and are experiencing almost unsurmountable problems in the power and energy sectors. Many problems that we have created ourselves have outgrown to a size where handling them looks almost impossible.
Our predicament is to figure out by looking at the state of our youth, "what promise does our nation holds for the future?"
Investing in skill development makes perfect economic sense; according to a report by UNESCO, "$1 invested in youth skills can pay back after fifteen-fold in economic growth."
CEO Kashif Mateen Ansari's article discusses the risk of a great opportunity being wasted.
, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Nations emerge from the ashes of such grave events, and we are no exception. As a country we have faced war on terror and wars imposed by neighbours and economic burdens of providing refuge to millions and facing long -term economic sanctions all in a lifetime of a generation.
Moving from Failure to Failure Successfully, 18 Sep 2023.pptxKashif Mateen Ansari
‘Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm’.
Quite bemusing that we have become quite experts in moving from one failure to another without losing any enthusiasm, though the sad part is that the failures increase in size and quantum.
To understand strategy in a simple manner three questions are quite helpful. When deciding on a course of action ask these questions: What next, what next and what next. As simple as they seem but they possess a great power to challenge anyone to consider the plan of action in the light of what will be the consequences, generally all intelligent people think about the consequence of their actions before committing them, but the wise ones think in a series of these question to fully understand the ramification of their deeds.
A country’s failure is mostly due to its extractive institutions. Extractive institutions stifle economic growth and maintain inequality by consolidating power and wealth in the hands of a select few. By taking resources from the majority and impeding the growth of a diversified and competitive economy, they serve the interests of a governing elite. Corruption, favouritism, and the repression of personal freedoms and rights are frequently attributes of extractive institutions.
Wealth inequality in Pakistan is overwhelming. According to a World Inequality Database report, the top 10% of Pakistani households earn 42% of the country’s income, while the bottom 50% earn only 13%. With the current tsunami of inflation and low growth these figures are bound to aggravate further.
Income inequality is equally staggering where the rich live in a different world and the poor inhabit a different planet. To put it into perspective the richest earn sixteen times more than the average income for the poorest.
“it’s the transmission, stupid” accurately describes the difficulties the power sector is facing in Pakistan. Many of the issues affecting Pakistan’s power sector, such as power outages, limited access to electricity, inefficient use of the country’s existing power generation capacity, and high system losses, cannot be resolved due to the absence of a reliable transmission network.
Blackouts and load shedding are frequent in Pakistan as a result of the transmission network’s constrained capacity. This has a major impact on households, businesses, and the economy.
It is said, “Never waste a good crisis” … and Hilary Clinton added, “Don’t waste it when it can have a very positive impact on climate change and energy security.”
Discussion regarding developing a system that would allow regular people to participate in the generation, profitability, and administration of energy and power.
The Greater Good; How to Make State Owned Enterprise better by kashif mateen ...Kashif Mateen Ansari
This is the presentation I made at the E3 Conference in Bhutan. The main theme was increasing efficiency in the SOEs specially in the energy sector. The presentation does not dwell upon privatization as that was not in the scope of this paper. Though I have separately written on Privatization.
This is all about Corporate Governance ...
This is my interview published in Pakistan and Gulf Economist. The main theme was Consumerism and Consumer Financing with special reference to Pakistan.
This is a presentation on the requirement of a standard for Micro Entities in the South Asian Region, abridged version of what was presented at The South Asian Federation of Accountants' International Conference.
The Last Sermon of Muhammad , Mercy to the mankind (p b u h)Kashif Mateen Ansari
A Glimpse into the Last Sermon of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to show case that he was a true revolutionary, a challenger of Status quo, Mercy to the Mankind.
A small piece that was published in "Better Pakistan". It deals with Solar Energy and takes into account salient aspects of Pakistan Energy Policy framework, incentives and processes.
Abhay Bhutada Leads Poonawalla Fincorp To Record Low NPA And Unprecedented Gr...Vighnesh Shashtri
Under the leadership of Abhay Bhutada, Poonawalla Fincorp has achieved record-low Non-Performing Assets (NPA) and witnessed unprecedented growth. Bhutada's strategic vision and effective management have significantly enhanced the company's financial health, showcasing a robust performance in the financial sector. This achievement underscores the company's resilience and ability to thrive in a competitive market, setting a new benchmark for operational excellence in the industry.
Seminar: Gender Board Diversity through Ownership NetworksGRAPE
Seminar on gender diversity spillovers through ownership networks at FAME|GRAPE. Presenting novel research. Studies in economics and management using econometrics methods.
1. Elemental Economics - Introduction to mining.pdfNeal Brewster
After this first you should: Understand the nature of mining; have an awareness of the industry’s boundaries, corporate structure and size; appreciation the complex motivations and objectives of the industries’ various participants; know how mineral reserves are defined and estimated, and how they evolve over time.
The European Unemployment Puzzle: implications from population agingGRAPE
We study the link between the evolving age structure of the working population and unemployment. We build a large new Keynesian OLG model with a realistic age structure, labor market frictions, sticky prices, and aggregate shocks. Once calibrated to the European economy, we quantify the extent to which demographic changes over the last three decades have contributed to the decline of the unemployment rate. Our findings yield important implications for the future evolution of unemployment given the anticipated further aging of the working population in Europe. We also quantify the implications for optimal monetary policy: lowering inflation volatility becomes less costly in terms of GDP and unemployment volatility, which hints that optimal monetary policy may be more hawkish in an aging society. Finally, our results also propose a partial reversal of the European-US unemployment puzzle due to the fact that the share of young workers is expected to remain robust in the US.
The secret way to sell pi coins effortlessly.DOT TECH
Well as we all know pi isn't launched yet. But you can still sell your pi coins effortlessly because some whales in China are interested in holding massive pi coins. And they are willing to pay good money for it. If you are interested in selling I will leave a contact for you. Just telegram this number below. I sold about 3000 pi coins to him and he paid me immediately.
Telegram: @Pi_vendor_247
5 Tips for Creating Standard Financial ReportsEasyReports
Well-crafted financial reports serve as vital tools for decision-making and transparency within an organization. By following the undermentioned tips, you can create standardized financial reports that effectively communicate your company's financial health and performance to stakeholders.
BONKMILLON Unleashes Its Bonkers Potential on Solana.pdfcoingabbar
Introducing BONKMILLON - The Most Bonkers Meme Coin Yet
Let's be real for a second – the world of meme coins can feel like a bit of a circus at times. Every other day, there's a new token promising to take you "to the moon" or offering some groundbreaking utility that'll change the game forever. But how many of them actually deliver on that hype?
BONKMILLON Unleashes Its Bonkers Potential on Solana.pdf
The Quick Fix, 25 Oct 2023.pptx
1. The quick fix
Kashif Mateen Ansari Published October 25, 2023
“The people of Pakistan are beaten by frightening inflation and
rising prices, and now the terror attacks on the mosques and Milad
processions. Obviously, there is sadness and discomfort in the air.
The poor are trying to cling on to any last piece of hope and for that
they are desperately trying to find any reason and light whatsoever
they can find”.
Cost of living crisis has hit every household, and we need to fix
things. The problem with fixing things is that when it comes to
national issues there aren’t any quick fixes. As John F Kennedy said,
“All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days.
Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, not in the life
of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this
planet. But let us begin.” So, the point is to stop peddling any quick
fixes rather look at the long term and chart a plan and stick to it.
In this piece there will not be any quick fixes for the power sector or the economy as the readers would
have had their fill from increasing the cheaper fuel mix to nationalization of IPPs (Independent Power
Producers). Some easier said than done and others outright absurd and fictitious.
The hard work must start from retrospection as to what went wrong in every sector and how that can be
fixed. Here the fixation is not on something quick rather something that is meaningful, and the good
impact would last at least a few generations.
“We often speak about South Korea that made use of our five-year development plan and rose to heights
of economic success, I am not sure whether that is true or not, but I surely know that we have had world
class economists like Dr Mehboob ul Haq working for us and writing plans for our economy. Then why we
are where we are? Is it lack of plans or lack of implementation? I think it is lack of sincere implementation
that is at the heart of our malaise, to put it mildly by borrowing JFK’s words, “This country cannot afford
to be materially rich and spiritually poor.”
Unfortunately, we have become spiritually poor, where corruption and insincerity are rewarded, and good
work goes unnoticed. Is the corrupt at fault alone or something else has broken the system? Let’s make a
2. quick check, what do we value most in our society, knowledge, community service and honesty or money,
material wealth, big houses and large vehicles.
If the answer is that we see common men respecting wealth and material belongings as opposed to
knowledge and good work then the whole society is to blame, because as it is said that “A nation reveals
itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”
Let’s go back to history to see when nations faced dilemmas like us either in the shape of economic
hardship or war how they got themselves out of that quagmire.
The strategy appears to have a few pillars:
First and foremost is the attitude towards the challenge as attitude is a little thing that makes a big
difference. We must change the national attitude towards these problems by helping the people realize
that the only way out of this mess is to fight and never give up.
It will be a long walk to success but surely it is worth it. China rallied under Chairman Mao and the famous
Great March started the revolution, we must remember that it was a long way to success and full of
sacrifices.
The second important pillar is complete transparency, the government and the leaders must be absolutely
honest in defining the problems and outlining the answers to those. We need leaders that are blunt when
it comes to telling the truth. This also means embracing the solutions that are difficult but necessary.
This has worked for nations and companies alike, General Motors, one of the icons of the automobile
industry declared bankruptcy and reorganized itself and it worked for it. (PIA, other SOEs, Discos, anybody
listening?)
Third pillar is to Innovate, we must reinvent our industry and exports in the light of new technology and
requirement of new services that have been made possible due to information technology.
Government must support innovation through policy frameworks and enabling environment. We must
unleash the creative potential of the common person. That would not need billions of dollars of incentives
and bailout packages that our traditional businesses have been accustomed to rather it might need minor
tweaks in the environment, making it easy for a young person or their groups to get together and provide
services globally. In the form of technology hubs, better training, soft loans and these would be small loans,
tax incentives, etc.
Churchill said, “All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom,
justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.”
Same is the case for us, we need simple things, but these are values to be upheld, that include Justice,
Honor, Transparency, Equity and respect for common man.
Imam Ghazali wrote many books and one of them is “Counsel for Kings”; its translation is published by
Durham University of United Kingdom, (original name is Nasihat ul Muluk). He noted a quotation of Hazrat
Ali “al-mulk yabqa ma’al-kufr wala yabqu ma’a zulm” “Nations do not collapse because of kufr, they
collapse because of injustice.”
3. So, while we see our country sleepwalking into a social and economic abyss, it is high time that we remind
ourselves and our leaders to do justice in all walks of life, before it becomes too late for any salvation.
This would include reducing the wasteful expenditure on protocols and uncontrolled spending on the
Superior Servants of the bureaucracy of all shades. This would also mean to look at indirect taxes from the
point of view of an ordinary man who must pay sales tax on most of the items of his grocery that would
consume all his income whereas the rich pay the same on a miniscule percentage of their total wealth.
Further the total taxation for the rich is lower than the comparable burden on the poor, this is injustice.
Billions are owed by the government departments to the Discos and this consumption is further increased
by the well healed techno’s who have made a mess of the energy sector, yet they get free electricity and
gas, whereas the burden is shared by the poor, this is injustice.
Thieves get free electricity and one-third of the cost that an ordinary person pays towards his bills
comprises of the cost of this theft and inefficiency, this is injustice.
The rich make use of many facilities including the well-paved roads and underpasses and overheads, well
suited for their SUVs and cars but they pay too little to use these facilities thus burdening the already dying
poor, this is injustice.
The list could go on and would fill quite many pages, but it is not required that someone list all these
injustices for them to be corrected. For any correction only adherence to the basic values is sufficient.
We don’t need simplistic answers for complex economic problems, these would be at least as complex
and technical in detail as the problems are, but we need simple values to guide the complex processes
that need to be undertaken.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
KASHIF MATEEN ANSARI
The writer is CEO of a wind power project and can be reached at kashifmateenansari@post.harvard.edu