Pakistani economy vs. BD economy? Good thread.
BD economy can overtake Pakistan if they an attain internal stability. Pakistan has quite a few more problems to deal with apart from the local political scenario. There is the GWOT factor, for as long as this goes on, FDI (which is key to economic development) will be restrained.
For BD, the external threats are lesser than what Pakistan is faced with. This allows for more money to be diverted towards social uplifting and infrastructure development. Pakistan still has to spend a considerable amount on defense.
Pakistan's economy has been extremely resilient even during the times of sanctions (interestingly enough, the years quoted in the original article which show a very limited growth in the Pakistani economy are the ones that Pakistan was massively sanctioned economically). BD has not faced the same sort of sanctions as imposed on Pakistan (this is a good thing for BD, but Pakistan paid for having a nuclear program).
I don't buy into this "intelligent race" bs. It sounds similar to the "superior" race crap that was fed to the world by Hitler et-al..
Education is key. The higher the literacy rate, the quicker you move to the goal. Pakistan has a long way to go here. Not saying that BD and India don't, but this is one thing Pakistan has to rectify very quickly.
In terms of potential, I really see no reason why either BD or Pakistan can not become South Asia's economic powerhouses. Having worked with brains from Pakistan, BD, India and SL, at least I can attest to the fact that we have folks who are just as good as anything that the West can throw at us. Individually the potential has to be realized and channeled appropriately.
Its just that Pakistan and BD, both, have to fix the internal instabilities and attain focus on economic development. This is the big challenge...whether they can overcome these internal issues.