Concerted efforts to face economic crisis

Ahmed Showkat Masud The economy of every country has to go through a business cycle. In a business cycle, there may be a boom period; that is, a good time for economy. On the other hand, opposite of the boom might be experienced by an economy, i.e. sluggish growth or a downturn. Since we are living in a global village, an economic shock in any corner of the world makes the rest of the world more or less susceptible to that shock. The global economy has, of late, been witnessing a downturn that must have an impact on every country's economy. Even stronger economics than ours are facing the problems of downturn such as--layoff in factories, high unemployment causing unrest and protest by the unemployed workforce. These are happening in some European countries caused by the much talked about European debt crisis. Later, the same unrest and demonstration of protest shocked the economic superpower USA. They are giving confessional statement that economic polarisation has started shifting towards countries like China, India along-with some East Asian countries and Brazil. Now how to tackle the ongoing economic crisis resulting in widespread social unrest? In time of such economic downturn, high unemployment usually continues for some years. It is the task of policy makers deciding strategy for macroeconomy to find out a solution to the economic woes the world has been witnessing. Rich countries are busy trying to find a solution to overcome the adverse situation for their own benefit only. The World Bank and the IMF are raising various questions in case of giving their assistance to countries like ours. The political parties of our country, both in the government and in opposition, are busy practising confrontational politics as they are used to. To tackle the country's economic crisis, concerted effort is needed. That would require putting aside differences and working together to find a solution with coordinated effort from all sides. Since we live in a global village, trade should get the utmost importance from politicians for safeguarding the country's economy. Economic diplomacy always gets the topmost priority in the developed countries. Our politicians (intellectuals, trade bodies too) will have to realize this. Myopic views will deliver no solution. The writer can be reached at ahmed.masud69@yahoo.com