The students of economic history know well about the misery of rampant stagflation in the 1970s, which engulfed almost the entire West and arguably, post the First Industrial Revolution, went on to carry itself as the biggest global stagflation moment in history. The fusion of inflation and stagnant economic growth destroyed millions of jobs while eroding everyone’s purchasing power, ensuring there was no escape from economic pain. Worryingly, today stagflation is returning to Pakistan (if, in reality, it ever went away in the first place over the last decade or more), albeit this time with a level of severity that may be unparalleled in our economic history, simply because the Pakistani population configuration has never before been so highly bulged, with more than 65% employable youth aged 35 or under and an unemployment queue that tops 20% for the employable, i.e. once disguised unemployment is taken into account. So, how pervasive can it become if nothing is done to fix it?

The persons responsible for a change of direction are naturally the economic team, whom I would list as: the finance minister, commerce minister, industries minister, governor of the central bank and the chairman of FBR. Together,........

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