Dr. Khalil Ahmad

During the 1970s, Pakistan went in for wholesale nationalization of its private enterprises, taking even educational institutions into the state’s hands. This was a move laden with far-reaching and unforeseeable consequences. Some are still being unveiled today. It changed not only the economic and political, but also the social, intellectual and moral landscape of the country for generations to come.

This article argues that judging rulers on the basis of their individual qualities or the circumstances of their lives is inconsistent with the norms of governance; what needs to be judged, in the first instance, is that whether they uphold the rule of law or not. Obviously, it is rule of law that is the greatest supporter of ordinary people and have-nots. Hence, one who plays with the rule of law, one who defies it, one who makes a travesty of it, never deserves any sympathy be he Saddam Hussein or someone else!

According to the Fraser Report, "the key ingredients of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and protection of person and property. ('Along with formulating and implementing policies consistent with these ingredients')...economic freedom also requires governments to refrain from many activities.

Over a period of five years between 1999-2004, the government of Pakistan spent Rs.1 trillion on poverty reduction. According to the Finance Ministry, Poverty Reduction Special Programme included budgetary and non-budgetary expenditures both by the federal and provincial governments.

This article argues that the administrative and judicial measures only put consumers at the mercy of the manipulated market. They make him the poor consumer, not the Consumer King! Because they never let him realize that it is the consumer himself who can alone fix and control prices! They never let him know where to shop to buy happiness!

Economic Freedom of the World is the most comprehensive index of economic freedom in the world and the only that uses reproducible measures for peer-reviewed research. The 2005 Annual Report explores the evolution of economic freedom over the last quarter century and the impact of economic freedom on people's lives.

Economic Freedom of the World is the most comprehensive index of economic freedom in the world and the only that uses reproducible measures for peer-reviewed research. The 2004 Annual Report explores the evolution of economic freedom over the last quarter century and the impact of economic freedom on people's lives.

"There is no business in Pakistan today which can be run without paying bribes to the ministers and secretaries." Yusuf Haroon, a businessman [Quoted in Shahid-ur-Rehman] The economy of Pakistan is heavily regulated and controlled by the government. The ever-increasing burden of taxes and regulations has given rise to a parallel economy (usually termed as black economy) of which tax-evasion and money-laundering are two significant phenomena.

In a country like Pakistan where welfarist and socialist thinking is dominant, where state is perfectly omnipotent, where every person is a committed statist, where individual, his freedoms and responsibilities are considered a luxury, and where the concept of free market is dismissed outrightly, isn't it surprising, and fortunate enough, too, to have a free marketeer who has written various books and articles on free market philosophy. And, isn't it surprising and unfortunate enough, too, that there is no publisher to print his books.