SOME people may have watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade starring Harrison Ford as the eponymous swashbuckling archaeologist on a mission to find the holy grail — the cup said to grant eternal life to whoever drinks from it. In common usage, ‘holy grail’ signifies a highly sought-after goal that is extremely difficult or seemingly impossible to achieve. In this sense, economic growth is undoubtedly the holy grail of economics as it remains the most-coveted prize for policymakers everywhere.

Globally, countries have reduced poverty and improved living standards through strong and sustained economic growth, not least because economic growth creates more high-quality jobs. China’s breakneck economic growth in the 1990s lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and built the very foundation for China’s emergence as a global manufacturing powerhouse by the 2000s. At the same time, China’s rapid economic growth generated the necessary fiscal space for Beijing to build infrastructure, expand social security coverage and modernise its military, all without resorting to unsustainable borrowing.

Since independence, Pakistan achieved decent rates of economic growth, while India muddled along at the ‘Hindu rate of growth’ below four per cent. But, in the 1990s, as Pakistan’s economic engine started sputtering, Indian economy, unshackled from........

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