Nadeem Ul Haque. Looking Back: How Pakistan Became an Asian Tiger by 2050

Abstract

The book is about development economics and, at the same time, a work of fiction, which predicts the future of Pakistan as a developed country. Though the book is written and conceived on a strong theoretical basis, that is, ‘complexity analysis,’ it remains a fictional work. Because the book is based on complexity analysis, it would fall under the rubric of ‘speculative fiction’, as it attempts to speculate the future development of Pakistan. As far as speculative fiction is concerned, it is of two types, namely, dystopian and utopian. The book is indeed a ‘utopian speculative fiction’ as it presents Pakistan as a very developed country, contrary to current conditions where Pakistan is striving hard for its survival. Thus, the book equates to the likes of ‘Orwellian’ works, such as “1984”. Right at the beginning of the book, the author argues that conventional economic analysis has failed to yield any sound analysis of the economy that can be employed for development economics. He further adds that both macroeconomics and microeconomics are inherently insufficient to lead to any meaningful policy analysis and recommendations. Thus, the author presents complexity analysis as an alternative tool for development economics