There was a time when leisure used to be taken as the status symbol for the elites, now crazy busy is buzz word for this new fuzz. Even states seem to be gyrating in the crazy busy whirlpool. The business of state is the direct result of politics or the economics, thus political economy is driving the global engine on one hand and formulating the global order on the other. Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his beautifully written novel “no one writes to the Colonel” very abundantly explained that people are stranded in utter poverty whence the state has no regard for the political economy of the people in local context. The most incisive line of the novel is “when you go to sell something, you have to put on the same face as when you go to buy “. This must be the leading principle of diplomacy while negotiating with states in financial parleys. What is political economy and how the state of Pakistan is managing it? Political economy is the study and practice of the means of production and trade in relation with law, customs, culture, government and the institutions. The term was originated in the writings of adam smith in 18th century as part of an overall concept of moral philosophy. Since then state is in the habit to treat political economy as a term of Meta ethics where as it actually belongs to normative ethics, this is the first deviation of the state of Pakistan. Therefore there is a need for transformations beyond Westminster or Whitehall political dispensations. There is a famous Chinese proverb that fish rots from the head; in fact the fish rots from the fringes, where the economic capillaries refuse to take the blood. As taught in schools of economics in the world, Pakistan is following the finance led growth regime where as it should be a local political economy regime till the country acquires a place in upper middle level states. This is the second deviation. Fringes are on fire, northern areas are severely hit by the climate change, out of 7000 glaciers over 3000 are already melted, if the trends follows, there will be no water to fill dams, especially during lean months. Perennial enemy is again trying to stoke fire in areas adjacent to western borders, southern Punjab and sindh are facing acute water shortage for crops, Pakistani rivers in chains, incarcerated somewhere in the mountains by the India .Range land in Baluchistan is suffering from over grazing and drought since 2013, where now there is very less annual rains. Thar is suffering from severe drought since last five years, mothers burying babies due to scarcity of food, where as connoisseurs exchanging pleasantries and plates at restaurants of M M Alam road,food street, blue area, margalla hill resort, tariq road, do darya and GT road , saying that why don’t the mothers of thar give cakes to their children. Amartya sen in his theories about Famine has clearly proved that these are men made disasters. The reason is sheer apathy and the failure of political economy of the state to support the local political economy of the region under stress. This is the third deviation. Green new deal and climate stabilization is the new rule of economics world over, it is the only choice left to the humans or the look alike if one may call. The urban areas everywhere are changing from industrial cities to corporate cities. This is drastically changing the urban class structure, increasing the inequality. The new urban underclass is the emerging challenge which only very stable state can face. In cities there is a collision between capital and labour, the inequality matrix as explained by Thomas picketty in his magnum opus “The Capital” will be the source of all conflicts to come. Capitalism has three types of economies, free market, , command economies and the mixed economy. In all these systems of economies there is a need to restructure the capital, bit coin and crypto currencies are not the restructuring. There is a simple theory which explains corruption; it is linked to price hike and the diminishing purchasing power. Treating corruption like a rotten head of a fish by a chop off and not removing the reasons is the fourth deviation. There is a need to constitute an economic command authority (ECA) on the lines of NCA as there is a real emergency in the country as far as the political economy is concerned. The authority should have two tiers, one experts to comment and accentuate measures for the improvement of political economy of the state and the other part be composed of common people who are part of local economies of all the regions of Pakistan(be it northern areas, Sialkot, Karachi, thar, Baluchistan, Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala, sukkar,chitral or whatever). The recommendations should flow from bottom tier to the top tier. Adopting the concepts brewed in London school of economics, MIT, or Harvard without immersing in the local potion is like eating a walnut with the hard cover. Both tiers to Look and identify the primary sector , secondary sector ,tertiary sector, output sector and the financial institution of state. The economic experts tell that without taxation state cannot run(as this is the text book solution), this is the half truth, without local political economy state cannot function, rather over taxing through indirect means result in stagnation of worst kind, where the beast stops in its tracks. Someone to also read john staurt mill ‘s book “principles of political economy” written in 1885, which explains the concept of labour, production ,un productive consumption , law of wages, precious metals and what not. Why a book as old as 1885, because there might be a need to improve the basics before using the terminologies of those who have moved through john staurt mill.
The writer is a free lance who contributes regularly on security related issues. He is also a Ph.D Scholar who can be reached at [email protected]
Published in Daily Times, October 21st 2018.