Though, for obvious reasons, the government’s newfound liking for ‘capitalising on human capital’ cannot be taken at face value, it touches upon a central feature of the new international economic order developing in the wake of the great recession. Countries like Malaysia and Australia weathered the storm better than most in the Asia-Pacific region because of their prior focus on ‘capitalising on human capital’. Embarking on medium-to-long-term overhaul while much of the region experimented with the doomed monetarist free-enterprise trickle-down, it turned out their focus on human resource development helped bolster the economy much more successfully than those relying on hot money advances to record GDP growth.
The present environment of low growth and high unemployment in much of the economic north has triggered a fresh rush towards human resource diversification. Foreseeing a dramatically changed market environment in the near future, individuals are acquiring skills that will cater to expanding real-sectors of economies, where processes will involve intrinsic production as opposed to financial wizardry that creates wealth from nothing.
In this preemption novelty lies an important lesson for Pakistan. The economy stands at a stagnating low that needs steroid shots of fiscal injections for even a modest revival. And our repeated experiences with aid and borrowing are enough proof that the money must be generated, not borrowed. Which means both taxation and trade must grow. Therefore, it behooves the government to build a human resource base equipped with the capacity to enhance industrial production, and subsequently exports.
The new world requires this proactive shift. If the government is serious about making people the country’s most precious asset, then there is still hope. Otherwise, considering mounting liabilities, not to mention international isolation and political paralysis, each with its own negative spillover, the breakdown point will come sooner rather than later.