Economic policy debates in Pakistan tend to fixate on macroeconomic indicators—fiscal deficits, firm-level competitiveness, and GDP growth. Interest and exchange rates dominate discussions, while the deeper crisis — human development — remains overlooked. By prioritizing short-term numbers, policymakers neglect the real engines of sustainable growth: human capital, competitiveness, and productivity.

As economist Javed Hassan aptly notes, “The problem is not that GDP growth is irrelevant -it’s that it’s a lagging indicator, an effect, not a cause.”

Pakistan’s elite, who shape the national discourse, largely ignore the country’s dismal human development indicators. At best, they lament air pollution because it directly affects them. But the real crisis runs deeper: a systemic failure in human capital development, with little or no political urgency to address it.

The numbers paint a bleak picture. According to the World Bank’s Country Partnership Framework, Pakistan’s Human Capital Index (HCI) score is 41........

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