Blaming others with own hand in Cookie Jar
CRITICISM of Pakistan’s economy is misplaced. It is no different from British economy of 1979 when Thatcher came to office.
Britain was facing a 3-day week, inflation topping 25%, an IMF bailout and angry public. The West is also facing cost of living crisis in 2022 showing challenges of democracy and economic model.
Pakistan can still save its economy and independence through domestic consumption based economy, value addition and turning its communities into Castles of Self-reliance.
Thatcher gave her economic plan in 1980.Privatized major state industries. Gave 20% tax break to entrepreneurs by cutting taxes from 60% to 40%.
Opened doors for FDI (Make in Britain). Opted to control inflation and keep it low instead of giving full employment and boosting growth.
Scrapped unions and empowered employers. Right to buy policy turned house into an asset. Shifted economy from manufacturing to financial service and deregulated banks.
Today UK’s poor are funding Thatcher’s privatization while rich make money. Privatization failed to provide relief to public and cut costs. Rail earning increased 108% but tickets are (among) highest in EU (BBC).
Big Utility companies routinely over charging consumers (Guardian). Fuel prices are up due to corporate greed and no oversight.
Housing policies have made buying and rents unaffordable forcing 40% adults to live with parents while adding 35% to cost of living for others.
Governments continue giving public funds as subsidies to private sector fueling inflation and unemployment.
Employers, politicians and government are not ready to accept oversight of unions. They expose political donations for legislation.
Parliaments are passing minimum wages without linking them to inflation. The stagnant wages restrict size of economy, reduce tax earnings and force workers into food programmes.
Public pressure will help rationalize £25,000 salary of (rail) worker and £625,000 (HS2 head) employer.
Salary ration should be 1:5 (US SC judgment). Tax politics is mega corruption. It creates business for financial sector, poverty and food stamp programs.
Opposition does not stop it to avoid losing elections.Independent Central Bank prints money happily. Tax havens compound inflation by hiding stolen money.
Dirty money centres in the West and ME are fuelling inflation in full view of judiciaries, FATF & other AML setups.
However, the increase in national debt, inflation and rise in cost of living is covered by blaming others with own hand in cookie jar.
Debt is a foreign policy tool now. The UK paid WW2 US debt in 2006 and stayed loyal ally of the West in wars.
Global financial set-ups punish nations for having independent foreign policy. UK public debt is £2.6T (US $30.5T).
Government added £200bn (US $2.3T) debt in 2022. Debt interest payment of UK is £83bn in 2023 (US $339bn, projected to be $1.2T by 2032).
UK and US debts in 1979 were $367bn and $889 after 272 and 203 years of independence respectively.
Democracy has turned into dictatorships.Boris Johnson pardoned himself instead of resigning after Partygate inquiry by changing ministerial code (27 May 2022).
Other laws were allegedly changed to save corrupt ministers from accountability and legalize £360M earned by 90MPs in second jobs while in “Part-time parliament”.
He won vote of confidence on 07 June 2022. PM’s anti-corruption head and ethics advisor resigned in protest on June 6 & 16 (Reuters & BBC).
PM forced media to drop the story of getting government post for his wife with £100,000 salary (June 20, 2022 BBC).
In the US, 06 Jan hearings show attacks on democracy.The stories of President’s Aides exercising fifth to avoid accountability and seeking notorious midnight pardons of American President shame West’s criticism of Putin.
Biden’s son is alleged to have earned $11M from Ukraine.Democrats deny it as Republican propaganda. The separation of state and religion has been erased in Roe v Wade judgment.
Politicians first divided judiciary in two camps and the court then divided the country in its image.
The winner America will now live in the Puritan community of 1642 Scarlet Letter and the other America stands banished from the community like Hester Prynne of Scarlet Letter punished for her sin was forced to leave the community and live on the edge of the town where she had no playmates for her daughter Pearl.
It is a befitting end to West’s immigration policy of them and us.Trump’s America first policy of self-isolation.
Biden’s failed foreign policy alienating the country for failing to stop another [Ukraine] war. Judiciary is also under attack in the UK.
After High Court’s order to write letter to EU, PM sought more compliant judiciary through judicial reforms, which would let ministers overrule judicial decisions.
Opposition called reforms an attack on independence of judiciary (06 Dec 2021 the independent).
Tory Party Members call justices “enemies of people”. (Against the law: 22 Aug 2020, the Guardian).
State is forcing judiciary to change [its] judgments (Dramatic fall in successful court challenges to government policy, 23 June 2022, the Guardian).
—The writer is senior political analyst based in Islamabad.
