Tight-fisted Urban Development!

Mr Nadeem ul Haq has raised some facinating questions regarding Lahore`s urban development (or lack of it).

There is now an increasing consesus among economists and policy makers in the developed world, that government regulations affecting the market need to be minimized, together with the government`s role in the economy. Governments makes extremely poor entreprenaurs while over regulation more often then not serves as a conduit for generating and transfering economic rents to corrupt governmental fuctionaries. This raises the cost of doing business and hence stifles development. Cornelius Tacitus once wrote, ``the more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws``. This unhappily applies well to Pakistan.

I believe civil society should be actively engaged in lobbying the powers that be to de regulate our highly over regulated society and minimizing the role of the state in areas of the economy where the private sector can be actively involved.

John F. Kennedy said back in 1961, ``The days of big government are over``. Our the powers that be in Pakistan paying heed?

Savail Hussain

Mr Nadeem ul Haq has raised some facinating questions regarding Lahore`s urban development (or lack of it).

There is now an increasing consesus among economists and policy makers in the developed world, that government regulations affecting the market need to be minimized, together with the government`s role in the economy. Governments makes extremely poor entreprenaurs while over regulation more often then not serves as a conduit for generating and transfering economic rents to corrupt governmental fuctionaries. This raises the cost of doing business and hence stifles development. Cornelius Tacitus once wrote, ``the more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws``. This unhappily applies well to Pakistan.

I believe civil society should be actively engaged in lobbying the powers that be to de regulate our highly over regulated society and minimizing the role of the state in areas of the economy where the private sector can be actively involved.

John F. Kennedy said back in 1961, ``The days of big government are over``. Our the powers that be in Pakistan paying heed?

Excellent set of probing and urgent questions here, Samad Sahib! Thanks for starting this debate. Is there any way that those whose answers matter can be made to answer??

I am sorry if my comment is a little irrelevant.

How many middle class lahoris can read this article?

Even in the elite class, how many are proficient in English enough?

My request will be that good policy writers should make contacts with good translators to get their articles translated and published in newspapers and journals that `the nation` reads and can read. Active collaboration with Urdu writing journalists will help a great deal too.

A group of 1000 can sure prove a good audience for us to feel our contribution but it will not help practically at all!!!