Dr Imran Khalid In an era when the global economy staggers under the weight of inflation, trade wars, and geopolitical fractures, China’s Communist Party has just unveiled a roadmap that feels less like a policy document and more like a quiet revolution. The fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee, which wrapped up in Beijing on October 23, adopted recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan, covering […]
Dr Imran Khalid On July 26, 2025, amid the grandeur of Shanghai’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on AI Governance, China unveiled what may well become the defining moment in the transformation of global artificial intelligence – its AI Global Governance Action Plan and the bold proposal to create a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, initially headquartered in Shanghai. These moves signal not just China’s […]
Matein Khalid Sri Lanka is one of the most fascinating and drop-dead gorgeous countries I have ever visited, the island once known as Serendip by ancient Umayyad Arab sailors/ruby merchants and Ceylon by the colonial Dutch and British who once ruled the island, an emerald tear drop in the Indian Ocean. I have a special bond with Sri Lanka because my late mother, an artist, used to […]
Imran Khalid In a global economic environment that remains shaky and uneven, China’s ability to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) is more than just a bright spot – it’s a quiet vindication of long-term planning, policy stability, and a commitment to innovation-led growth. Contrary to Western narratives of economic decoupling or investor flight, the latest data paints a far more grounded picture: foreign capital is not just […]
Dr Imran Khalid “We made a great deal with China. We’re very happy with it.” So declared President Donald Trump in his familiar tone of triumphant ambiguity on June 11, fresh off what was touted as a breakthrough agreement to restore a trade truce between the United States and China. But if history has taught us anything, it is that “done deals” in the Trumpian lexicon tend […]
Dr Imran Khalid President Donald Trump’s erratic dance with tariffs continues to confound not just global markets but even his own team. On April 22, in a move that underscored the White House’s habitual policy incoherence, Trump declared that the “very high” tariffs on Chinese goods would soon be “substantially reduced.” This comes after days of raising them dramatically at the start of the month, then selectively exempting key electronics sectors – moves that reflect both strategic […]
Dr Imran Khalid President Donald Trump’s declaration of April 2, 2025, as “Liberation Day” marked a seismic shift in U.S. trade policy, with the imposition of sweeping reciprocal tariffs that have sent shockwaves through the global economy. The new measures include a universal 10% tariff on all imports, with punitive rates as high as 54% for China, 46% for Vietnam, and 20% for the European Union, alongside […]
Dr Imran Khalid The winds of uncertainty are sweeping through Europe as the continent grapples with the stark reality of a diminished U.S. commitment to its security. The handling of the Ukraine crisis by the Trump administration has rightly sent shockwaves through European capitals, unearthing a reality that policymakers have long feared but often failed to address head-on: the United States, under its current leadership, is no […]
Matein Khalid It is an ironic twist of history that the world’s largest Muslim country, an archipelago of 18,000 islands, whose ancient Sumatran kings once funded countless monasteries/temples at Nalanda, the Harvard/Oxford of Vedic India two millennia ago. Sumatra was then known as the kingdom of Srivijaya when Mauryan India’s ruler was Ashoka, imperator of the Magadan superstate. Fast forward 22 centuries and the two best performing […]
Matein Khalid If ever there was a year to make money in Big Tech, 2023 was it. My three big strategic calls all outperformed my expectations. Google rose from 85 to 142, Nvidia rose from 150 to 492 and Microsoft rose from 295 to 374. 2024 could well see several emerging markets beat the S&P 500’s stellar 26% rise this year, though the real fairytale has been […]
Matein Khalid In my late 1970’s boyhood, I was mesmerized by the Shah of Iran’s regal hauteur and magnificent uniforms as he made periodic state visits to Larkana, the then de facto capital of Pakistan. Sadly, the party ended for the Shah in January 1979 as he piloted his Imperial Boeing 707 out of Tehran while a million Islamist revolutionaries screamed for his blood and welcomed a […]
Dr. Imran Khalid As US President Joe Biden prepares to reengage in negotiations with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other influential Republicans on the critical issue of the debt ceiling to find common ground amidst a landscape riddled with challenges, constitutional experts warn of the potential ramifications should the they fail to forge an agreement on this matter. The stakes are high. Inaction or an impasse in […]
Matein Khalid The year 2022 has been an annus horribilis for Pakistan’s sovereign debt, even by the dismal standards of the emerging markets. Political stability has been illusive as the populist, incompetent PTI government of Imran Khan lost a no confidence vote in parliament and the fragile PDM coalition has not been able to restore credibility on macro policy as the free fall in the rupee to […]
By D. Imran Khalid Indubitably, Pakistan is nowadays passing through one of the most turbulent periods in its recent history. On the surface, it is a serious political turmoil. But, intrinsically, it is an amalgamation of financial and political tribulations which are dragging the country into the slough of uncertainty. The whole saga started in […]
The post Pakistan Has Landed In An Unprcedented Eco-Political Crisis first appeared on IPA Newspack.
Imran Khalid Indubitably, Pakistan is nowadays passing through one of the most turbulent periods in its recent history. On the surface, it is a serious political turmoil. But, intrinsically, it is an amalgamation of financial and political tribulations which are dragging the country into the slough of uncertainty. The whole saga started in mid-March this year, when the Opposition submitted the no-confidence motion against former Prime Minister […]
Dr Imran Khalid “We must be prepared for this to last for years. We must not weaken in our support for Ukraine, even if the costs are high” is how NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with the German media this week, while referring to the possibility of the Ukraine war to be dragged to many years. So, a cursory glance at this statement […]
By Sankar Ray Pakistan’s Prime Minister Kaptaan Imran Khan is in an existential crisis that pushed him personally into a political quagmire. His stature worsened further following the crucial observation by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial during the hearing of a suo moto matter following the dismissal of National Assembly of Pakistan […]
The post Imran Khan Has Pushed Pakistan Into A Major Constitutional Crisis first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Matein Khalid Recurrent lesson in Russian history is that the top guy in the Kremlin is toast if he loses a war or a high stakes geopolitical gamble. In 1962, Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban missile crisis gamble against JFK backfired and he was booted out from the Politburo by his fellow oligarchs two years later. […]
The post Parallels Seen With Stagnation After Invasion Of Czechoslovakia first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Matein Khalid As the 5% crude oil plunge in both WTI and Brent on fears of Omicron demand shock demonstrates, the fate of the virus is inextricably linked to global economic growth, Fed policy and thus commodities returns. Yet thanks to black gold’s stellar performance the GSCI Energy index was a winner in 2021, up 47%. Even Brent rebounded 4% to 74 a barrel in its […]
Matein Khalid Trend is your friend until the trend comes to an end. So this has been a fabulous year to own US equities and I have surfed the Big Board/Nasdaq wave for high stakes with even occasional high octane leverage to bet on the right puppy. I am now paranoid about the risk of a major market selloff in November. After all, as Dr. Henry Kissinger […]
Matein Khalid The civilized world watches in horror as the Taliban flogs women on the streets of Kabul with whips and cable wire, maims arrested journalists with truncheons and reinstates the Ministry of Virtue and Vice. The religious police that carried out executions, amputation, beheading and stoning to death of women that so disgusted the world in 1996 to 2001. It is also no coincidence that Afghan […]
Matein Khalid The terrorist DNA of the Taliban is proven now that Sirajuddin Haqqani, a warlord with the blood of thousands of innocent Afghans, NATO soldiers and foreign diplomats on his hands that earned him a place on the FBI’s most wanted list, is the Interior Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The regime, like the post Napoleonic Bourbon Kings of France, has forgotten nothing and […]
Matein Khalid Imran Khan described the fall of Kabul as liberation, I wonder if he has seen the images of desperate Afghans trying to flee their “liberation” by the odious Taliban – mothers handing over babies over the razor wire, the country’s best and brightest coming back to the airport after the savage suicide bomb attack, which was the Taliban’s modus operandi to slaughter the citizens of […]
By Matein Khalid The horrific fall of Kabul to the Taliban is an indictment of both the systemic corruption that plagued the Ashraf Ghani government and the policy incompetence of the Biden White House in a critical stage of the war. In retrospect, the US had no business negotiating with the primitive savages of the Taliban who have never severed their links with Al Qaeda and ISIS […]
