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Historical analogies must be approached with caution, but the conditions in France under the Ancien Régime and contemporary Pakistan, despite being separated by centuries and continents and each possessing unique complexities, offer a lens through which to examine the pressures within Pakistan’s political structure and the potential consequences of its inability to reform in the face of an economic crisis.
The taxation regime in pre-revolutionary France was derided as “excessive, inefficient and unfair.” It was excessive because, in the late 18th century, France became one of the highest taxing states in Europe, driven by spending on its army, expanded bureaucracy, and profligate monarchy. It was inefficient because it encouraged corruption and tax avoidance. It was unfair because most of the nation’s direct taxation was levied on the Third Estate— the common people. The privileged First and Second Estates, the clergy and the nobility paid little or no taxes despite possessing much of the wealth.
“Excessive, inefficient, and unfair” could just as well describe the Pakistani tax regime and the political economy underpinning it. The ruling coalition recently approved a budget designed to generate considerable additional tax revenues to cover bloated public spending. These expenditures include generous pay raises for an inefficient bureaucracy responsible for executing wasteful........