The management of Pakistan's economy 1947-82

National economic management is a new but growing science. The developing world's experience of the recent decades underlines the fact that economic and social progress is an induced process. Governments are not only called upon to initiate the development process but are also rc:quired to influence its composition, pace, tone, and direction through an appropriate policy-mix. A consistent framework encompassing various policies within the bounds of an overall national strategy needs to be worked out by the national policy-makers. But experience has also clearly sbown that the formulation of economic policies and, even more important, the actual implementation of these policies is a formidable task. Policy formulation skills are scarce in the developing world. This book is a .modest attempt to look critically at the management of Pakistan's economy during the period 1947-82. While it has been written primarily for under-graduate and post-graduate students in economics, we feel that it should prove useful and interesting for policy-makers as well as for readers desirous of information and interested in an analysis of Pakistan's economic performance and development record since 1947. A deliberate attempt has been made, especially in the earlier chapters, to explain as simply as possible the features of Pakistan's economy, its historical development, and the process and evolution of economic decision-making. These are developed in more analytical detail in subsequent chapters especially those dealing with the major sectors.