This article looks at Pakistan's economic policies in the light of claims that significant liberalisation has taken place in recent years. After a brief account of the political and social considerations that prompted shifts in economic policy in the period since independence, the author takes a close look at recent developments in terms of the indices used by the Fraser Institute in the Annual Reports it issues on Economic Freedom of the World.

The author explains Pakistan's relatively poor performance in significant areas as springing essentially from the determination of successive governments to continue to control economic as well as other activities. He notes the rent-seeking to which this gave rise from the start, and the resistance to change in this regard. In the process he touches also on recent political upheavals that have thrown problems of governance into sharp relief.

Significantly the author refers to the ideal of an all-powerful government that remains one of the legacies of British rule. Unfortunately, where countries such as India have begun to remedy this through adherence to democracy, Pakistan has often abandoned democracy in pursuit of other goals which are privileged so that regular consultation of the people's will can be avoided. His arguments indicate that, without thoroughgoing adherence to the political aspects of liberal democracy, attempts at economic liberalisation will necessarily be flawed.