The economies of the Arab world lag behind the West. Is Islam to blame? by John Cassidy

Prophet Motive

The economies of the Arab world lag behind the West. Is Islam to blame?

by John Cassidy February 28, 2011

ABSTRACT: ANNALS OF ECONOMICS about whether Islam has been a deterrent to economic growth in the Arab world. After the revolution comes the test of governing. From Paris in 1789 to Cairo and Tunis in 2011, the task is the same: translating the euphoria of the uprising into lasting material progress. If the new governments of Egypt and Tunisia are to have any chance of satisfying the demands of the revolutionaries, they need to start out with an accurate assessment of what has been holding back their economies. But what if a major culprit is Islam itself? An influential line of analysis points to that conclusion. “No one can understand the economic performance of the Muslim nations without attending to the experience of Islam as faith and culture,” David Landes, the Harvard economic historian, wrote in “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations.” After 9/11, Bernard Lewis, the Princeton historian, developed this narrative further, arguing that the pervasive influence of Islam prevented many Arab countries from properly addressing the issue of why they were falling behind. The notion that religion plays a central role in economic development dates back to Max Weber’s 1905 treatise, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.” Modern economists tend to put greater emphasis on the way beliefs are codified and institutionalized than on the beliefs in themselves. Many Islamic societies were slow to develop banks, commercial courts, joint-stock companies, and other business organizations. In a new book, “The Long Divergence: How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East,” the economist Timur Kuran blames social customs and religious rules dating back to the earliest days of Islam. Discusses the way business partnerships and inheritance practices traditionally worked in many Islamic countries. But, before consigning a fifth of humanity to the dustbin of economic history, one might consider, more broadly, whether it makes sense to place such an emphasis on religion in explaining the underdevelopment of so many Muslim countries. To start with, it’s worth noting—and Kuran and Lewis, to their credit, do note it—that Islam, at least in its original formulation, was far from hostile to business. As the centuries passed, many Muslim regions fell badly behind the West, but the most immediate explanation involves not Islam but predatory governance and colonialism. More recent history provides examples of Muslim countries seeking to engage in the global economy—and of some of them succeeding. Discusses the recent economic gains made by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey. Also considers how demographic changes in Egypt and Tunisia may affect economic development there. Day-to-day worship of the sort practiced by hundreds of millions of Muslims is no more what is holding back the Middle East than Hinduism was what held back India or Roman Catholicism was what held back Ireland. Despite the arguments of new Weberians, people have always found a way to serve their gods and Mammon, too.

Newsletter for Government and Public Policy Department - NDU

Newsletter GPP

Dear Students,
As we are edging closer to the third anniversary of the Faculty of
Contemporary Studies, this maybe a good occasion to celebrate the
highlights of these three years and create a point of contact and
connection among students of various semesters of GPP and alumni, and
also with other departments of FCS as well as with NDU community at
large. A quarterly GPP newsletter may well serve as such a contact.

There are many success stories among us:
Some students found lucrative employment opportunities while working
on their term papers and MSc Projects whereas some have already
successfully entered their professional lives. Some students have
hobbies that can serve as a source of inspiration for the rest of us,
and they may motivate others to spend their leisure time in a more
beneficial way.

Please share with us your success story and thoughts. It may inspire
many. You can also share a brief commentary on your experience at the
department.
You may contribute photographs.

Please send your submissions to me at asifahasan@gmail.com or drop by
in person.

More ideas to make this newsletter a success are welcome.
best
Asifa

Environmental Risks and Challenges for Pakistan

In an interactive session of the course Natural Resources and Environment Economics, we have seen some important aspects of Environmental Risks and Challenges being faced by world in a movie by Al Gore "An inconvenient Truth".The main issues which came into limelight includes the emission of GHG (Green House Gases), Global Warming, Climate Change, CO2 Emission and Kyoto Protocol. Most of us are familiar with the terms but I am here describing them in context of Pakistan:

GHG Green Houses Gases:

These are the gases including the water vapors, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane and nitrous oxide present in the atmosphere. This is mostly related to the green house effect. Green house effect means that energy from the sun in the source of solar rays (Heat Energy) come onto the surface of the Earth and is mostly absorbed by our Earth. In normal practice, the most of the energy should be or must be emitted back to the atmosphere especially its layer Mesosphere. Instead of this, the heat rays keep present in the troposphere where we live or which is the lowest layer of atmosphere. As a result most of the heat is absorbed by our Earth surface resulting in lessen the amount of moisture on the surface of the Earth and brining extremely high temperature for the Earth. Pakistan contributes to the 0.4% of GHG emission of th world having a ranking at 135^th. Although it is quite low Inspite of the fact in the recent floods of June 2010 the country receive all its rainfall of the monsoon season 300mm in 36 Hours period, all due to the GHG and Global Warming.

Global Warming:

This is the increase of temperature of Earth Surface. According to Ministry of Environment, the climate related damages and cost faced by Pakistan due to disasters which have its grass roots in Global Warming are estimated to $4billion. On the other hands, if we touch the Economical point of view, Global Warming has also reduced our per acre yield or rice, wheat and cotton also. Global Warming has also resulted into cyclones also. There has always remained a threat for Pakistan Coastal Areas including the Sindh and Balochistan. One must ponder how Global Warming has effect on Cyclones. It is simple but complicated question. When the temperature of oceans increased say it is more than 30 degree Celsius (we are discussing high temperature only due to Global Warming) then the air from the ocean rises above the surface of the ocean and as result creating lower pressure of gases on the surface of ocean. The air from the surrounding has a higher pressure. The process of diffusion takes place and the air currents from the higher pressure to lower pressure move and this cycles continues and as a result cyclones are produce.

Climate Change:

Any change in the climate due to the human activity is called climate change. The term Climate Change is roughly used while discussing GHG, Ozone Layer Depletion e.t.c. Ozone Layer depletion here means that the depletion / breakage of Ozone Layer which is present in layer of atmosphere after troposphere called stratosphere. Ozone layer served as a protection of Ultra Violet rays, damaging heat rays from the sun into the Earth. Due to human activity the tendency of protection is decreasing day by day brining in Climate Change and many other problems.

CO2 Emissions:

CO2 emissions means the storage and emission of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere general through carbon cycle which is a natural cycles. But due to climate change this CO2 cycle is disturbed. Pakistan contributes towards the 1.92 tones of Per Capita Emission of CO2 as per UNDP.

Conclusion:

Dear Blog users, have you ever noticed that cloudy nights are warmer than normal nights. The main reason is that clouds prevent the the radiation of heat from land and air. In this way the temperature is usually warmer. Just imagine, that due to human beings activities we have disturbed everything and as result we have brought the clouds of disaster on our atmosphere which are making our Earth Surface warmer and warmest.

Let us discuss and make a list of Risks and Challenges for Pakistan due to the above mention issues:

1. Floods

2. Cyclones

3. Droughts

4. Radioactive Health Hazards

5. Agriculture and Land Problems

6. Deforestation Problems