Pakistan Economy: Call for Papers

Papers welcomed on all aspects of economic activity in Pakistan.

Of particular interest are papers on the accuracy of economic and demographic statistics, on the size and shape of the informal economy, on income and capital wealth per capita, inequality , the debt burden, and similar subjects.

Papers on all aspects of statistical methods for producing economic data, including traditional and non-traditional means of data collection are equally welcome. And papers on the practical problems of gathering data in large populous developing countries is a further area of interest.

Pakistan Economy: Call for Papers

Papers welcomed on all aspects of economic activity in Pakistan.

Of particular interest are papers on the accuracy of economic and demographic statistics, on the size and shape of the informal economy, on income and capital wealth per capita, inequality , the debt burden, and similar subjects.

Papers on all aspects of statistical methods for producing economic data, including traditional and non-traditional means of data collection are equally welcome. And papers on the practical problems of gathering data in large populous developing countries is a further area of interest.

Submissions on measuring the informal economy and other data issues are welcome, methodology, growth, inequality and its economic impact on the formal economy, public finances, gender equality and sustainability. Papers are welcome using case studies, econometric findings, on statistical methodology and on the practical problems in gathering and interpreting data. Papers from 1,000 to 6,000 words plus will be considered by our editorial board.

Articles for submission for consideration for the World Economics Journal should be sent to editor@worldeconomics.com.

The World’s Biggest Economy
America or China?

There is some dispute over which of the two undisputed superpowers is the biggest.

The Economist (for example) clearly thinks America remains king of the jungle. Its issue dated May 13th 2023 subheads a paper called Peak China with the unequivocal "The meteoric rise of China's economy is ending". And notes later that "Even if China's economy does become the biggest in the world, its lead is likely to remain small".

It must be emphasised that nothing is certain in the murky world of economic data. World Economics has spent many years studying GDP measures and knows a significant proportion of GDP data is little better than random numbers, as one notable economist referred to some African data. The Economist may be right. However there are good reasons for believing that China's GDP is already significantly bigger, and is continuing to grow significantly faster than that of America. Here they are:

First, the view that the American economy is still bigger than China's rests mainly on using the unrefined dollar as the measure. But as all travellers know, a dollar in downtown Hanoi buys more than a dollar in NYC. In the same article we cite, The Economist itself points out that a basket of goods and services that costs $100 in America, costs only about $60 in China, yet measures US supremacy without considering the big price differentials.