Budget and the Poor

By Babar Ayaz Any expectation from the ruling class to change its political and geo-political strategy is unrealistic. And without moving towards these changes, the economic policies of the country cannot be changed Here is an anecdote on the budget. When I was working for a national English daily in the early 1980s, to report [...]

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South Asian slaves in Dubai

By Ishtiaq Ahmed The oil producing states of the Gulf combine tribalism, feudalism and rentier capitalism to produce an egregiously oppressive socio-economic order A few days ago my older son wrote to me from Stockholm to convey his shock over a short documentary he saw by BBC’s Ben Anderson entitled ‘The Slaves of Dubai’. It [...]

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Poverty Grows

AS the Senate of Pakistan started a debate on an adjournment motion about the increasing prices in Pakistan, the government-owned gas distribution companies showed why poverty is increasing, by applying for an increase in their tariffs in July. The Senate heard Professor Khurshid Ahmad of the Jamaat-e-Islami, and an economic expert, open the debate by [...]

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