This second season of Unpacking Us focuses on technology and development in the Global South. We're talking about how technological innovation is fueling growth in these countries, about how it's enabling exchanges, and products and transactions that we couldn't dream of a few years ago, and yet at the same time its uprooting livelihoods, spreading discord, dis-enfranchising segments of the population. We'll talk about financial inclusion, education, AI, politics, and I'm sure other areas as well. We'll talk to builders and doers and thinkers - and I hope we will all learn a lot in the process.
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This second season of Unpacking Us focuses on technology and development in the Global South. We're talking about how technological innovation is fueling growth in these countries, about how it's enabling exchanges, and products and transactions that we couldn't dream of a few years ago, and yet at the same time its uprooting livelihoods, spreading discord, dis-enfranchising segments of the population. We'll talk about financial inclusion, education, AI, politics, and I'm sure other areas as well. We'll talk to builders and doers and thinkers - and I hope we will all learn a lot in the process.
What Explains Pakistan's Economic Crisis and How to Solve it?
Unpacking Us
54 minutes
3 years ago
What Explains Pakistan's Economic Crisis and How to Solve it?
Asim Khwaja [https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/asim-khwaja] walks us through Pakistan's current economic crisis, and why the real solutions lie in long-term productivity increases. In the process, he also tells us what he learnt from a 5th grader during his recent visit to Pakistan, and on the important role that optimism plays both at a personal and structural level.
This episode was recorded before floods started wreaking havoc across the entire country. Here [https://www.floods.pk/] is a list of Pakistan and US-based charities involved in flood relief efforts. Please donate generously.
Asim Khwaja [https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/asim-khwaja] is the Director of the Center for International Development [https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/cid] and the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, and co-founder of the Center for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP). [http://cerp.org.pk/]
Some links to what we talked about:
* Atif Mian's [https://twitter.com/AtifRMian/status/1549782314829357056?s=20&t=pzq_aXqVCU4Vfg8wiM01yQ] and Asim's own [https://twitter.com/aikhwaja/status/1550861884949008384?s=20&t=pzq_aXqVCU4Vfg8wiM01yQ]Twitter threads on the causes of the economic crisis.
* Asim's Twitter thread [https://twitter.com/aikhwaja/status/1558739412401405952?s=20&t=pzq_aXqVCU4Vfg8wiM01yQ] about his field trip where he met the budding brain surgeon.
* Asim mentioned my research on what politicians know about citizens. Here [https://blogs.worldbank.org/impactevaluations/politicians-know-little-about-what-citizens-prefer-information-changes-their] is a blog about it and here [https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.harvard.edu%2Ffiles%2Fasadliaqat%2Ffiles%2Fjmp.pdf&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AOvVaw3O5H9NfGNi3jY6aJzSCghD] is the full paper.
* Asim complained that I asked him about everything but his own research. Until I ask him about it in a future episode, you can read about it here [https://khwaja.scholar.harvard.edu/publications-0].
Unpacking Us
This second season of Unpacking Us focuses on technology and development in the Global South. We're talking about how technological innovation is fueling growth in these countries, about how it's enabling exchanges, and products and transactions that we couldn't dream of a few years ago, and yet at the same time its uprooting livelihoods, spreading discord, dis-enfranchising segments of the population. We'll talk about financial inclusion, education, AI, politics, and I'm sure other areas as well. We'll talk to builders and doers and thinkers - and I hope we will all learn a lot in the process.
