The book provides an incisive review of the issues and challenges facing Pakistan's economy on

the eve of next millennium, and proposes a rich agenda of changes needed. This is done in the
socio-political context of the country and the system of governance, recognizing that economic
policy formulation or implementation is deeply rooted in the system of governance. Typically,
books on the economy of any country, Pakistan or others are confined to the tedious chronology
and analysis of economic events, sprinkled with a few standard policy prescriptions, which is
beyond the attention span of common readers. What makes this book an interesting reading is its
underlying theme, that in developing countries like Paksitan, economic progress is simply not a
matter of policy formulation. Instead, their success is inextricably intertwined with the
institutional processes essential to their implementation and follow-up. In Pakistan, as the book
traces out, there has been no lack of policy formulation or policy advice over the years. From
time to time various expert groups were specially made, but their recommendations are piled up
in a mound of massive reports without much progress to show for all the efforts made.
Recognizing this, the author goes beyond the routine format of economic reportage and
elaborates on the system of governance. The book points out how an elite group consisting of the
landed nobility, the army, the senior bureaucracy, and a select few rich and resourceful families
has kept their strong hold throughout much of the rather turbulent history of Pakistan. It details
how the system of governance has been compromised to sustain the rule of this elite group, and
how the organs of government have been shaped or reshaped to this end. It shows how the
existing political system has disenfranchised several parts of the Pakistani society giving rise to
social unrest and upheavals; and why a large number of the young and educated are turning to
protests and violence. Further, the book shows how the leading institutions of the country in
critical areas like education and the judiciary have been systematically eroded away from within.
The book shows that Pakistan faces rather daunting challenges of rebuilding a society that would
be in harmony with the needs of 21st century and outlines an agenda essential to achieve
economic and social progress.



his analysis into the prevailing economic situation in Pakistan has three distinguishing features. It
is an exhaustive, analytical history of economic development in Pakistan during the last fifty
years; it provides an explanation of Pakistan's economic performance in the political context, and
compares it with other South Asian countries and with East Asia; it outlines for Pakistan an
agenda of economic and social reforms based on a model of shared growth to see the country
into the twenty-first century. The main thrust of the book is that the respective roles of the state
and the market have been reversed in the case of Pakistan, with the result that the benefits are
reaped by the elite classes only.
An insightful case study of Pakistan's economic development during the past fifty years which
demonstrates that the benefit of this development has predominantly affected a small class of
elites while the majority of the population remains illiterate, poor. and backward.