Flashy events grab our attention, or at least the media’s attention; terrorist bombs, nuclear threats, elections, political scandals, etc. Yet the events of greatest import, in terms of the change they cause, often have no flash and hardly draw our notice. What was the most significant event in India in the 1990s? Most likely, the opening of its domestic markets, which set off a wave of economic development, the rise of a powerful middle class, the emergence of Bangalore as a technology hub, and so on.
Most headlines from Pakistan these days revolve around war—the war on terrorism, the war against India, the war in Kashmir. So it wasn’t surprising that the most interesting story I’ve read about the country in some time was buried this week in the distant precincts of the world business section of The New York Times. The story outlined the privatization program that’s underway and noted that “the sales, by the army generals running Pakistan, promise to reshape an economy that has been burdened since the 1960’s with a huge, highly inefficient and sometimes corrupt collection of state-owned companies that soak up government subsidies.” Pakistan is a backward country because, in part, it has a backward economy. If that changes, the country changes. Boring but vital.
UPDATE: The Guardian has a story today about a campaign by Islamic hardliners to create an interest-free banking system in Pakistan. If your economic model is Taliban-era Afghanistan, it’s an excellent idea.
