Salman Ahmed Shaikh's Blog, page 7

Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam

The lectures given by Allama Iqbal even after one century are as fresh and illuminating as ever. They show the tremendous depth and breadth of his knowledge, vision and also his commitment and passion for religion and its progressive application at the personal level and societal level in Muslim polity. Amidst the height of passion and devotion, Allama Iqbal still highlights important factors of stagnation which need to be avoided. He urges Ijtihad, Ijma and reconstruction of thoughts to foster change while retaining the eternal principles of religion.

Highlights of Global Hunger Index 2024

In South Asia, serious hunger reflects rising undernourishment and persistently high child under nutrition, driven by poor diet quality, economic challenges, and the increasing impact of natural disasters. The goal of Zero Hunger by 2030 now appears unreachable, and if progress remains at the pace observed since the 2016 global GHI score, the world will not reach even low hunger until 2160 more than 130 years from now.

Theories of Economic Development and Islamic Economics

In Harrod (1939)-Domer (1946) and Solow’s Growth model, the emphasis is on increasing savings and investments and that is supposed to lead to increased productivity corresponding to lower Incremental capital output (ICOR) ratio in Harrod (1939)-Domer (1946) model and hence higher rate of growth and to higher steady state level of output in Solow’s Growth model. Savings that result in investments contribute to growth. Essentially, what leads to growth is investment. Savings are only the source of investment funds.

Moral Reflections on Economics, Vol 5, Issue 1

January 2025 (Vol 5, Issue 1) issue of Moral Reflections on Economics is online. It features article on Theories of Economic Development and Islamic Economics, Highlights of Global Hunger Report 2024 by Hammad, IEP Public Poll results on Challenges to Banking Sector in 2025, book review of Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam by Allama Iqbal, research paper in focus on The Value of Societal Values in Finance by Carolin Schellhorn, Reflections on Quran and Ethics by Abrar Ahmed and regular sections of market news, economic and financial indicators and call for papers.

Configuring Problems of Economics in Islamic Perspective

This paper explores answers to the question that what should be the subject matter of Islamic economics.

Oxfam Report on Survival of the Richest

This report has four chapters and this report focuses on how taxing the rich is vital to addressing unprecedented and skyrocketing inequality. It shows how taxing the rich can set us clearly on the path to a more equal, sustainable world free of poverty.

Values in Economic Choice Behaviour

Use of mathematics in economic theorizing has restricted economic analysis of consumer behavior within a confined boundary of certain axioms. Often, these axioms are found to be empirically false.

The Political Economics of Green Transitions

The authors caution that democratic politics may or may not help fix dynamic social problems. The authors argue that even in their own optimistic model of politics—where parties maximize average utility of those currently alive— equilibrium policies may not put society on the right path, and the speed of the green transition may be too slow. Climate change and environmental degradation is a slow and cumulative process. To protect environment, the efforts also need to be cumulative and consistent. A self-centric secular worldview encourages the self-centric use of private property resources. However, even small things done collectively and consistently can have a larger effect.

Doughnut Economics

The author urges responsible attitude towards ―limits to growth‖. The author argues for the equalization of endowments rather than expansion of policies that redistribute current income. Kate Raworth then lists seven ways of thinking about the economy that will help us manage common needs such as water, food, income – the things in the hole of the doughnut – so that humanity lands in the sweet spot rather than drifting past the outer ring – the ecological ceiling -- where phenomena like ozone layer depletion thrives.

Highlights of State of Global Air Report 2024

The threat of air pollution is not new, but it is changing. Air pollution has contributed to death and disease and has hurt economic prospects and community resilience for decades. During that time, policies and technologies have drastically improved air quality in some areas, saving lives, and proving that pollution is not an inevitable by-product of economic development.Air pollution is a complex mixture of particles and gases with sources and composition varying over space and time. While hundreds of chemical compounds can be measured in the air, governments typically measure only a small subset as indicators of the different types of air pollution and major sources contributing to that pollution.