Pakistan’s tax code is inefficient, cumbersome, and enforced by a bloated bureaucracy, which is why the Islamabad-based Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) has long advocated for a changed tax structure. PRIME’s most recent campaign, Aik Tax (“single tax”), advocates for a lower, flatter, and more predictable sys...
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Founded in 2013, Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) conducts research analysis and advocacy campaigns to influence economic policy toward free markets and limited government. PRIME’s Ayesha Bilal, a graduate of Atlas Leadership Academy and a former Atlas Network Smith Fellow, spoke with Daniel Anthony, Atlas Net...
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Each year at the International Students For Liberty Conference (ISFLC), the organization recognizes an alumnus of the year, granting the award to a former student who has made a significant contribution to advancing freedom. This year, Students for Liberty (SFL) presented the Alumnus of the Year Award to Dr. Tom G. Palmer, Atlas...
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Pakistan has one of the highest tax rates for mobile phones in the world, and an Internet penetration rate of only 14 percent — less than half of India’s rate, and much less still than other countries in the region. Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME), an Atlas Network partner based in Islamabad, has been running...
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Do you think that Sharpies and Post-it Notes are normal, everyday office supplies? Not the nine project presenters of this year’s inspirational Unconference, sponsored by EdChoice, part of Atlas Network’s 2016 Liberty Forum. Unconference brings a workshop atmosphere to the traditional policy conference — aggregating the wisdom o...
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Situated between the Middle East and the rest of Asia, Pakistan has long been both a physical and cultural bridge between the two distinct regions — and its economy has stagnated in recent years. Islamabad-based Atlas Network partner Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME) recently released a study proposing a flat...
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“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program,” the Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman famously wrote in their book The Tyranny of the Status Quo. In Pakistan, an emergency committee was formed in 1965 for a war lasting only 17 days, and more than 40 years later it is the “linchpin of economi...
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Forests are rapidly dwindling in Pakistan, at a rate of about 2.1 percent annually between 1990 and 2005 — one of the highest deforestation rates in the world. About two thirds of Pakistan’s forests are owned by the state, and almost all of the remaining privately owned forests are subject to strict government usage controls, so...
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Air travel used to be a prohibitively expensive luxury for most people, but deregulation has brought the ability to fly within reach of most socioeconomic classes in countries that have relaxed the grip of government on their airline industries. Pakistan-based Atlas Network partner Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PR...
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In February, Atlas Network partners in Asia joined together for the 2016 Asia Liberty Forum, held this year at the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to strategize for even greater impact in the months to come.
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When governments control or influence the price of basic goods, the destructive effects ripple through the rest of the economy. In Pakistan, sugar production is subsidized and regulated to such an extent that its price per kilogram at home, Rs50, is higher than the international price, Rs45. This effectively bars export markets...
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Chronic government debt can cripple a country’s economic prospects and mortgage the futures of taxpayers, and Pakistan has a national debt-to-GDP ratio of 64 percent — an amount that soars as high as 75.1 percent when additional government liabilities are taken into account, according to economist Sakib Sherani. Pakistan-based A...
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A new service from Atlas Network partner PRIME Institute in Pakistan provides a monthly economic analysis in the form of reports that “help business and corporate leaders to take better decisions and formulate informed responses about the consequences of important policy developments.” The syndicated monthly economic analysis is...
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Asia has become a powerhouse in global markets, a trend that is only expected to grow over time. Asia’s economy contributed almost 40 percent of the world’s productive output in 2014, and accounted for nearly two thirds of global economic growth. Deeper market integration and liberalization in the region is critical to the globa...
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Three years ago, Pakistan established the International Clearing House (ICH) to monitor incoming international calls and curtail illegal traffic. This essentially established a cartel of telecom operators raised costs for overseas calls into Pakistan, dramatically reduced voice traffic, and reduced customer choice for telecom se...
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The key to achieving a free society is, first and foremost, to change the climate of ideas. That’s the lesson that Atlas Network founder Sir Antony Fisher drew from Nobel laureate economist Friedrich Hayek before he abandoned his electoral ambitions to begin work founding and supporting think tanks that would assemble the analyt...
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To achieve tangible, real-world impact in the think tank world, measuring the outcomes and results of our work is a key ingredient of the equation. In order advance this goal, Atlas Network has proposed using reputable international rankings or indices and then objectively assessing the results of think tanks’ work as they try t...
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Pakistan has one of the highest tax rates for mobile phones in the world, and an Internet penetration rate of only 14 percent — less than half of India’s rate, and much less still than other countries in the region. Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME), an Atlas Network partner based in Islamabad, has been running...
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Think Tank Start-up Training 2015 in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley brought together more than 20 leaders from think tanks representing more than 10 countries across Asia. The in-depth management and leadership training was held in advance of Asia Liberty Forum 2015, and was facilitated by Asia Centre for Enterprise (ACE), in partners...
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Top economists and debt policy experts in Pakistan argue that the rising level of public debt has become a major threat to economic stability and development, and has already become fiscally unsustainable. Just last year, the Pakistani government took on $12.5 billion in new debt.
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With summer temperatures set to soar, the demand for electricity in Pakistan goes even higher, and in the current energy crisis of Pakistan, a solution must be found quickly.
Ali Salman of PRIME, a public policy think tank in Pakistan, proposes net metering, “a service whereby the electricity generated by the electric consumer...
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Pakistan International Airlines has an employee to aircraft ratio that is four times higher than the world average. A member of Pakistan's National Assembly proposes that the solution is therefore to increase the number of the aircraft managed by the loss-producing nationalized airline. Ali Salman of Atlas Network Pakistan-based...
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The Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME), an Atlas Network partner based in Islamabad, created a scorecard to track policy reform and implementation by the new government in the areas of economy, energy security and social protection.
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