Tariq Riaz. An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Poverty of Nations: With Special Reference to Pakistan . England: Research Publication. 2017. 392 pages. U.K. £ 7.70 (Paperback).
2017
Looking into the institutional functioning and economic
management of the country, the book investigates the causes of
Pakistan’s poverty and also suggests ways to achieve sustainable
prosperity. Following the prologue, the book is organised in five parts.
The first part traces the human evolution and the quest for economic and
social progress, and the relation between individuals, state, and
economic development through history. Part two talks about some basic
concepts linked to economic development and human welfare. These
include: gross national product and productive capabilities; stages of
transformation of an economy; and what history tells us about how the
poor became rich. Part three presents the author’s views on the
Washington Consensus policies and how it led to the domination of the
neoliberal economics, and its role in creating a poverty trap. A
comparison of four Asian countries and their pathways to economic
development, or lack of it, is presented in part four of the book.
Looking at the economic development history of South Korea, China and
India, Riaz explains how and why Pakistan lags behind all these
countries. The last part of the book focuses on normative economics, and
recommends policies, which if implemented, can help build Pakistan’s
economy and transform it into an efficient and vibrant welfare state.
This book can be of interest specifically to policy-makers and
academicians, but it can be a good read for anyone interested in
understanding persistent poverty in Pakistan and measures needed to get
out of it.
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