In this Urdu discussion, Uzair talks to Shahid Mehmood about a recent article he published which showed how major issues since at least the 1980s continue to plague the economy. The discussion focuses on key drivers of these issues, why policy does not change to deal with this reality, and includes updates on economic developments in the former FATA regions.

Shahid Mehmood is an economist and research fellow at PIDE.

You can read his article here – www.dawn.com/news/1669368

You can read the PIDE Growth Strategy here – pide.org.pk/Research/PIDE-Reform-Agenda-Report.pdf

Reading Recommendations:

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

2:00 Why do the same problems persist?

9:30 Using taxes to plug imbalances

13:20 Potential of pharmaceuticals

17:10 Welfare v. entrepreneurship

24:14 Building a culture of innovation

27:50 Occupation of public lands

35:52 Economy of the ex-FATA regions

44:30 How can the trajectory be corrected?

52:20 Reading recommendations