Economics beyond PTI-nomics and PMLN-nomics

This treatise is neither the charge-sheet on economic mismanagement by the predecessors nor a token of appreciation for the incumbent economic-managers. It rather manifests how the economic-updates or communiqués are dealt with less seriousness by those in upper-echelons of economic policy-making either in the government or opposition in retaliation respectively at the cost of spreading economic-confusions nationally.

Looking at the global-economy, which is experiencing sheer turbulence at large, policy-prescriptions emanating out of various economic schools-of-thought are at inter-play with each other while their disciples are lamenting one another for the resultant collateral-damages and colossal-losses in the global-economy.

Similarly, the inflation in the global-economy is posing to be a double-edged sword, because in the post-pandemic era due to coupling of expansionary fiscal-policies and loose monetary-policies, which caused the inflation to sky-rocket consequently, the consumption toppled and economies reliant on consumerism began to over-heat as a result of ‘demand-pull inflation’. This proved to be a ‘face-saving’ measure akin to a cosmetic-measure for the governments globally to blanket the structural-issues of economies under ample monetary liquidity in the system.

The story didn’t finish here yet as the inflation, already in accelerated-motion, is soaring again and persisting, but the launch-pad is totally different, which is the global shipping-crises giving birth to the recent supply-chain fiasco, chained with global commodities-shortage thus making essential-goods costly at unprecedented-levels in the public and private-budgets. This situation is infusing the ‘cost-push inflation’ ostensibly, which is exacerbating the flares of economic ‘over-heat’ globally.

If we ponder upon the possible policy-prescriptions which economic-pundits at the Central banks and Ministry of Finance can prescribe, they will ultimately oscillate between softening and hardening measures in fiscal and monetary-realms. Similarly, the ‘Washington-consensus’ is anchored and referenced globally as an ‘economic magnum-opus’ for treating the economies.

Looking at this global-scenario holistically, under the shadow of strategic-studies and developments, we could witness that economics is no more confined in ‘fiscal’ and ‘monetary’ policies rather it has dawned as a ‘warfare-tool’ and a ‘diplomacy-lever’ in the battle-ground of comity of nations.

Pakistan being integrated with global-economies is prone to global-adversaries and inevitably has to exhibit the same global vagaries locally. Contrarily economy-discussants either at public or private-sector in Pakistan are very much different with respect to their lack of seriousness to communicate with the ‘factors of production’ and build market-perceptions.

In Pakistan, economy has become a football, between players of two opponent leagues, being aggressively kicked by each other targeted at their goalposts. Economists sitting on both sides are making fiery comments upon each other at the cost of exacerbating economic-uncertainty. Thus objectivity in economic-discourse has faded away somewhere, while subjectivity is clouding the discussion.

‘Independent-observer economists and think-tanks’ are tired of discussing the same notorious current-account deficit, extravagant fiscal-deficit, structural-issues of economy, negligent behaviour of state-owned enterprises, monstrous circular-debt etc. All the independent-economists and think-tanks for the last few decades have been always signaling each and every economic-challenge which they foresee, thus they earn the respective government’s wrath and refutation. But at the same time the same government surprisingly gets stricken by the same ailment identified earlier in their own tenure by the ‘independent -observer’ economists and think-tanks.

In Pakistan’s context, the chain of disruption in shipping, supply-chain, and  commodities-prices, all which caused the inflation to soar, manifests macroeconomic adversaries which are a mixture of global disruption coupled with local-mismanagement but unfortunately our economic-intellectuals who are speaking on behalf of either the government or the opposition have strongly held their posts to attack each other. While the opponents confidently presuming that these global shocks or invisible-hands are controllable by suited-booted policymakers, sitting in Q-Block (Ministry of Finance) Islamabad. Hence, objectively speaking, global effects of inflation are inevitable but administratively mismanaging the induction of these global economic effects will speak highly of the incumbent government’s inability and sheer incompetence undeniably.

The speed with which the world is exploiting the trendy data, it is then no longer a ‘surprise’ to predict ‘future challenges’ which could weather the economy in form of macro-economic disruptions resulting in the inflation to skyrocket sometimes in future. Again, will our economic pundits arm themselves with media weapons against each other just like the sheer foolishness which has been exhibited for long? This is not how an economy of a nuclear state can ever prosper.

Pakistan’s Economy is the lifeline and a first line of defense for Pakistan in the 21st century. Pakistan is lacking an economic-consensus, and is struggling with a basic communication-deficit still far from filling the gaps of notorious current, fiscal and trade deficits.

Unfortunately our ‘economists’ who belong to the opposing camps are exerting energy in the wrong direction. Why not these ‘brilliant technocrats’ belonging to opposing camps synergize to undertake ‘economy’ as a matter of ‘national importance’ just like ‘defense’ of Pakistan? Nowadays our economic discourses encompass, no more than drawing politically-motivated comparisons between ‘PTI-nomics’ and ‘PMLN-nomics’ or ‘Tareen-nomics’ and ‘Dar-nomics’. This love and hate relationship for each other is sadly enshrined in our economic-communiqués.

Pakistan’s economy has been oscillating between boom and bust for the last few decades, and is unable to fetch a sustained growth-rate for a reasonable time-period. Each and every regime rattles with this challenge and then makes this situation as a ‘stepping-stone’ to criticize the predecessors, digging the economy further deep and declaring the predecessor, an ultimate culprit for the entire digging endeavour.

Pakistan needs to jettison already tried-and-tested cosmetic measures which always create an inevitable situation of dragging Pakistan into an IMF programme after a certain interval.

Pakistan needs to amend her economic trajectory. Rather than making it a party-specific subject, it should be a national subject, so that good economic decisions taken earlier will prevail sanely without an unnecessary fear of being scrapped off just for the sake of personal hatred for the predecessors.

Leaving economy of a nuclear power state embroiled in non-serious discussions and driven by personal whims of successors and predecessors is an innate threat and more serious than deadly combat warfare.