Why is this a Ripe Time to Promote Solarisation?

A shift towards solar power use has been taking place across Pakistan recently, as declining prices of solar panels, coupled with frequent hikes in electricity tariffs, have galvanised end-consumers to embrace solar solutions. However, this rapid pace of solarisation has sparked concerns within some policy-making circles. Speculations regarding policy changes affecting solar photovoltaic (PV) participants
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The Banker’s Economy

Many societies today face the economic problem of an “outsized” banking system, too powerful in its influence and too distortionary in its impact for the rest of the economy to function properly. In the United States, this problem is often framed as “Main Street vs. Wall Street,” and I have discussed the repercussions of the matter during
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East or West? Who Will Rule the 5th Industrial Revolution?  

The world economy saw a ‘great divergence’ as a result of the first two Industrial Revolutions (IR-1 and IR-2) between 1750 and 1950 AD. The economic shift occurred from East to West as a result of industrial development by Western European nations led by Great Britain. The key to their success was the use of then-new technologies like steam power, mechanisation, automobiles, railways, telegraphs or electricity at every level of industrialisation
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Potential of Pakistan’s IT Industry: A SWOT Analysis

In recent years, Pakistan’s IT industry has shown significant potential for growth while confronting various challenges. This Working Paper presentsa comprehensive SWOT analysis to assess the industry’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in detail. It identifies a young demographic base; large freelancing sector; and financial attractiveness for offshore outsourcing of IT services as the major strengths of Pakistan’s IT industry.
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Non-fungible Tokens: Multidisciplinary Perspectives

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The Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS), Islamabad, will be hosting a book launch for the edited volume ‘Non-fungible Tokens: Multidisciplinary Perspectives’ (Routledge, 2024) on. The editor of the volume, Dr Usman W. Chohan, serves as Advisor to President CASS on Economic Affairs and National Development, and this is his 7th successfully completed book project in the past six years. The book serves as an additional milestone in the larger programme of Dr Chohan’s examination of the potential of the digital economy.
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بلاکچین: پاکستان کے جمہوری نظام کی جدت، شفافیت، اور سہولت کا مستقبل

جمہوریت کی بنیادوں پر استوار قومیں اپنے مضبوط جمہوری روایت کے ذریعے امن، خوشحالی، اور عدل کی بہترین مثال بنتی ہیں۔ ووٹ کا حق اس جمہوریت کا جوہر ہے، جو عوام کی آواز کو اقتدار تک پہنچاتا ہے اور ایک زندہ جمہوریت کی پہچان ہوتا ہے۔ پاکستان میں انتخابی نظام مہنگا، غیر موثر، اور پرانی ٹیکنالوجی پر مبنی ہے، جو ووٹ کی رازداری اور شفافیت کو برقرار رکھنے میں مشکلات پیدا کرتا ہے۔ اس کے برعکس، بلاکچین ٹیکنالوجی پر مبنی ووٹنگ سسٹم شفافیت، تحفظ، اور کارکردگی کو بہتر بنا سکتا ہے۔ بلاکچین کی مضبوطی ڈیٹا میں تبدیلی یا مداخلت سے تحفظ فراہم کرتی ہے، جو اسے ووٹنگ کے لیے ایک مثالی ٹیکنالوجی بناتی ہے۔ اس سسٹم کی تعمیر اور دیکھ بھال آسان
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Pakistan’s Unrealised Remittance Potential

The tide of outward migration from Pakistan surged considerably over the past two years (2022 and 2023), with several millions opting to emigrate with the aim of securing better prospects overseas. For instance, the number of skilled, highly skilled, and highly qualified worker migrants from Pakistan alone increased to 0.77 million, compared to 0.26 million in 2020 and 2021 and 0.48 million during 2018 and 2019, the two years before the pandemic.
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3 Skills for the Future

The youth of today exhibit a constant worry about the future of the labor market and the digital workforce that they will be entering, and with good reason, for we are witnessing stark changes brought about by AI, robotics, and other technologies advancing at breakneck speed. The economy of the future is one that leaves bewildering permutations open, and so as an economist, I am asked by the youth about what skills they should invest in to “future-proof” themselves and be ready for the decades ahead.
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Knowledge: Its Supply and Demand

As with any commodity, or commoditised corpus, knowledge too can be squeezed into the neoliberal matrix of microeconomic analysis, where knowledge is framed as a function of supply and demand. If one proceeds from this constraining prism, then one might surmise that the developing world as a whole, and a country such as Pakistan more specifically, suffers from a supply of knowledge. One may deduce this from the low literacy and numeracy rates, from low rankings of universities on international tables, from the percentage of GDP accorded to public and private education or R&D.
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