There was a time when inflation was seen mainly as a poor man’s problem. Today, it has entered the drawing rooms of the salaried class, the small business owner, the young professional, the retired parent, and the family that once considered itself comfortably middle class. The crisis is no longer limited to whether people can […]
When Collecting Taxes Becomes Too Expensive
Pakistan’s Budget 2026-27 has once again triggered the familiar debate. Are tax rates too high? Has the salaried class received enough relief? Are businesses paying more? Should the government have imposed additional taxes or reduced expenditure instead? These are legitimate questions. Yet they all overlook a more fundamental issue. Perhaps Pakistan’s biggest tax problem is […]
Geography Is Back. Is Pakistan Ready?
For much of the past two decades, policymakers around the world convinced themselves that geography no longer mattered. Technology was shrinking distances. Globalisation was integrating markets. Capital could move across continents with the click of a button. Supply chains stretched from Asia to Europe and North America with remarkable efficiency. The future, we were told, […]
The Death of Expertise
A lawyer spent years acquiring knowledge that an AI model can access in seven seconds. A financial analyst spent a decade learning how to build models that software can now generate instantly. A doctor spent years memorising information that machines can retrieve faster and, in some cases, more accurately. This is not a failure of […]
The AI Arms Race Runs on Electricity, Not Algorithms (Part II)
The country’s renewable energy potential is particularly noteworthy. Pakistan possesses substantial solar resources across much of its territory. Hydropower remains underdeveloped relative to its long-term potential. Wind energy projects have demonstrated promising results in several regions. Combined with improvements in transmission infrastructure and energy storage technologies, these resources could support future digital growth. Another opportunity […]
The AI Arms Race Runs on Electricity, Not Algorithms (Part I)
The world has spent the last few years obsessing over artificial intelligence. Headlines have been dominated by breakthroughs in large language models, increasingly sophisticated chatbots, autonomous systems, and the race among technology giants to build ever more powerful AI platforms. Governments are drafting AI strategies, investors are pouring billions into AI startups, and corporate executives […]
The Global Middle Class Is Being Replaced by Two Classes: Owners and Renters
For decades, the middle class represented the psychological backbone of modern capitalism. It was the class that worked, saved, invested cautiously, bought homes, educated children, planned retirements, and believed that discipline would eventually translate into stability. Governments proudly measured their expansion as proof of economic success. Banks built products around it. Politicians campaigned in its […]
The Next Recession Will Wear a Tie
For generations, recessions carried a familiar image. Factories slowed down, construction sites went silent, truck drivers lost routes, and industrial workers lined up outside closed plants hoping for shifts that never came. Economic downturns were often visualized through smokeless chimneys, rusting machinery, and labourers carrying lunch boxes back home earlier than usual. White-collar professionals, meanwhile, […]
The War That Made Traders Rich
Wars once destroyed stock markets. Today, they energize them. That may sound morally disturbing, but modern financial markets no longer react to conflict the way they did decades ago. In the past, wars primarily represented uncertainty, destruction, and economic slowdown. Investors rushed toward safety, business confidence collapsed, and economies braced for prolonged instability. In 2026, […]
The End of Globalisation Wasn’t Announced — It Just Started Charging Tariffs
For nearly three decades, the world was told a seductive story: borders would matter less, trade would make wars obsolete, supply chains would connect humanity, and economic interdependence would create stability. Factories shifted to Asia, consumers in the West enjoyed cheap products, corporations maximised profits through global outsourcing, and economists celebrated the age of hyper-globalisation […]