Sunday, October 18, 2020

Ex Treasury Sec Summers: US Would Have Saved $10 Trillion If We Handled COVID Pandemic Like Pakistan

Speaking with Fareed Zakaria on US cable news network CNN, former US Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers told Zakaria's audience that "if the US had handled the pandemic as well as Pakistan,  we would have saved around $10 trillion ". 

Ex US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers Praised Pakistan on CNN


After similar praise of Pakistan's handling of coronavirus by Bill Gates on CNN GPS show, this was yet another rebuke of Fareed Zakaria who never misses any opportunity to disparage Pakistan. It reminds us all  how wrong headed is his earlier statement that Pakistan "has done almost nothing as far as I can tell, you know, infections are not going crazy, death rates are not going crazy, there may be some underreporting"

Below I am reproducing a post I wrote on this subject on August 12, 2020: 

Interviewing Bill Gates on global fight against COVID19, CNN GPS host Fareed Zakaria said on Sunday August 9 that Pakistan "has done almost nothing as far as I can tell, you know, infections are not going crazy, death rates are not going crazy, there may be some underreporting". Needless to say, Zakaria's claim is debunked by "Government Response Stringency Index" and Google Mobility Reports which Bill Gates  is clearly aware of.  So he ignored Zakaria's claim and responded as follows:"Pakistan had a pretty bad peak in Karachi but those numbers have come down and now they look like Europe. India is still sadly in growth phase as is South America...in Africa South Africa is top...in the rest of Africa we've been funding a lot of testing because it's a bit opaque..what goes on in the lungs..you are more exposed to indoor and outdoor particulates even at younger ages you can get disease compared to let's say a rich country"

CNN GPS Anchor Fareed Zakaria


Data on Pakistan's Response to COVID19: 

Is Fareed Zakaria right? Has Pakistan really done nothing to fight COVID19 pandemic? Let's answer this question.

The first answer can be found in the video flashes from Pakistan that were playing as Fareed Zakaria was disparaging Pakistan's efforts to control the spread pf coronavirus. The video shows people wearing masks on the streets in Pakistan. It also shows a worker spraying disinfectant. Another scene shows worshippers wearing masks while sitting apart from each other in a mosque. Does Fareed Zakaria think "nothing" of what is visible on the screen in his show? Did he ask his producer what was being transmitted to the audience as he spoke?

COVID19: Government Response Stringency Index. Source: Our World in Data


The second and more data-centric answer can be seen in the "Government Response Stringency Index" that tracks various restrictions imposed by governments to control the spread of coronavirus. The Index tracks restrictions including school closures, workplace closures, and travel bans, scaled from 0 to 100 where 100 is the strictest response. It's based on data from Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker.  The tracker shows that  Pakistan government response was nearly as stringent as India's and more stringent than that of the United Kingdom.

Another indicator of restrictions comes from Google Mobility Index which also confirms dramatic effect of lockdown imposed by federal and provincial governments in Pakistan. It shows that mobility was down as much as 65% during the lockdown when compared with the period just prior to the lockdown.

CNN GPS Screenshot



Health Chief Dr. Zafar Mirza's Interview: 

What has improved the COVID19 situation in Pakistan? Is it just Pakistan's good fortune? Why is it so different from the situation in neighboring India where the infections are rising?  Is it the result of a series of deliberate interventions by Pakistan's government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan? What are the key factors contributing to falling coronavirus transmission rate in the country? Here are some  of Pakistan's Health Chief Dr. Zafar Mirza's answers to these questions that came to light in a recent interview with Pakistani journalist Bilal Lakhani:


1. There were 50 different interventions with 2300 smart lockdowns covering 47 million people based on data driven evidence of disease spread.

2.  Significant change in people's behavior with large percentage wearing masks and taking other precautions to prevent transmission.

3. A fall in positivity from over 22% to below 10%, and excluding Sindh, near 5% for the country.

4. Significant decline in hospitalizations and fewer patients in critical care.

5. The government staying the course while ignoring the mass hysteria for total nationwide lockdown like India's stirred up in the media came mainly from the well-fed rich and the upper middle class. The voices of the ordinary people and daily wage earners were not part of public discourse reported by the media.

Zakaria's Views on Terrorism: 

Fareed Zakaria has often talked of what he labels "Islamic Terrorism", a label that both Presidents Barack Obama and Geoge W. Bush shunned. Both ex presidents rejected associating terrorism with any religion. But not Fareed Zakaria who has essentially toed the Indian line of calling it "Islamic Terrorism" and labeled Pakistan as "epicenter of Islamic Terrorism".

Far from being objective, Zakaria is in fact a cheerleader for India, the country of his birth. In his book "The Post-American World", he describes India as a "powerful package" and claims India has been "peaceful, stable, and prosperous".

Summary:

Former US Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers told Zakaria's audience that "if the US had handled the pandemic as well as Pakistan,  we would have saved around $10 trillion ". After similar praise of Pakistan's handling of coronavirus by Bill Gates on CNN GPS show, this was yet another rebuke of Fareed Zakaria who never misses any opportunity to disparage Pakistan. CNN GPS host Fareed Zakaria has shown yet again that he is incapable of being objective when it comes to discussing anything related to Pakistan. He claims that Pakistan "has done almost nothing" in fighting COVID19 pandemic, a claim that is debunked by "Government Response Stringency Index" and Google Mobility Reports. In fact, the video flashes from Pakistan that were playing as Fareed Zakaria was disparaging Pakistan's efforts to control the spread pf coronavirus show people wearing masks on the streets in Pakistan. They also shows a worker spraying disinfectant. Another scene shows worshippers wearing masks while sitting apart from each other in a mosque.  Fareed Zakaria's bias against Pakistan is ridiculously obvious to any objective observer who has even the slightest knowledge of the country.

Here's a video clip from CNN GPS Show:

https://youtu.be/KpAMVLwBJkM



Related Links:

Haq's Musings

South Asia Investor Review

COVID19 in Pakistan: Test Positivity Rate and Deaths Declining

Fareed Zakaria Never Misses Any Opportunity to Bash Pakistan

Retired Justice Markanday Katju on Modi's India

Lynchistan: India is the Lynching Capital of the World

73 Year After Independence, Caste-Ridden India Dominated By Brahmins

Pakistan's Pharma Industry Among World's Fastest Growing

Is Pakistan's Response to COVID19 Flawed?

Pakistan's Computer Services Exports Jump 26% Amid COVID19 Lockdown

Coronavirus, Lives and Livelihoods in Pakistan

Vast Majority of Pakistanis Support Imran Khan's Handling of Covid19 Crisis

Pakistani-American Woman Featured in Netflix Documentary "Pandemic"

Coronavirus Antibodies Testing in Pakistan

Can Pakistan Effectively Respond to Coronavirus Outbreak? 

How Grim is Pakistan's Social Sector Progress?

Pakistan Fares Marginally Better Than India On Disease Burdens

Trump Picks Muslim-American to Lead Vaccine Effort

Democracy vs Dictatorship in Pakistan

Pakistan Child Health Indicators

Pakistan's Balance of Payments Crisis

Panama Leaks in Pakistan

Conspiracy Theories About Pakistan Elections"

PTI Triumphs Over Corrupt Dynastic Political Parties

Strikingly Similar Narratives of Donald Trump and Nawaz Sharif

Nawaz Sharif's Report Card

Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel

4 comments:

From Canada With Love said...

Boy I bet that really burned fareed's Pakistan hating behind. The man reminds me of Tarek Fatah,only marginally more intelligent.

Fakir said...

Our people dont understand that is mulk pe karam he Allah Pak ka k humne bakio wale halat nai dekhe... our Govt institutions supported by Nation did tremendous job in saving the country from covid... but after affects of previous policies were increased by many folds in negative way due to covid

samir sardana said...

The Americans are clocking 40000 cases on a population of 350 million.That is 1100 per 10 Million.

That ain't bad at all.It makes USA at par with UAE and Kuwait and BETTER THAN PORTUGAL !
If there is no 2nd wave in the winters,and inspite of the US polls,then it would appear that Trump's Poker experience,has clicked,as he called the bluff,of the Scientists.

That is,if it was a bluff !

In Poker,the players kill each other off - and the Casino just gets the commission (rent plus % of takings).In America's casino,the media and pundits,are killing each other,over COVID,and Trump is raking in the commission.

In Bacarrat,Blackjack and Roulette,the players bet AGAINST the casino.dindooohindoo

If the COVID numbers hold up,in USA,and the vaccine comes in,by 2021.,then Trump's Poker call would have saved USA,and the World,from the greatest economic and political cataclysm, in history - and he should be in the pivot seat,to witness it !

If the numbers DO NOT HOLD in USA,then .............

India is at 400 per 10 million - which is what makes it unbelievable !

But this sudden and unexpected reduction in the daily count in USA,Brazil and India and the sharp spike ONLY IN EUROPE,is FISHY !

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan on #IPO spree, with as many as 10 companies lining up to go public. #Pakistan's #KSE100 index has jumped 52% since March, beating runners-up #Vietnam & #India. It's still one the world's cheapest markets with forward price-earnings multiple of 7.4 https://gn24.ae/aab4cb2a6f8f000 https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1319290702384173056?s=20

Pakistan's market for initial public offerings is coming out of hibernation and heading for a record year. The nation, which has posted the fastest equity rally in Asia since March, will host about 10 new share sales in the fiscal year to June 2021, according to its top adviser Arif Habib Ltd.

That follows a 17-month streak of no new initial share sales and beats the previous record of nine deals in 2008. "IPOs will always be active when the stock market is performing and company valuations are good," Arif Habib's CEO Shahid Ali Habib said in Karachi.

"There is a lot of liquidity too with funds shifting allocation from the fixed-income class to equities."

Pakistan's benchmark stock index has jumped 52 per cent since March, beating runners-up Vietnam and India, and gaining twice as much as China. Yet, it remains one the world's cheapest markets with forward price-earnings multiple of 7.4 times.

The appeal of momentum and valuation is luring companies to tap public funds. Pakistan had two company listings in July. Now, Agha Steel Industries Ltd. is raising 3.8 billion rupees ($23.5 million), in the country's third-largest deal from the private sector.
Also, industrial-automation company Avanceon Ltd. and rubber-products maker Service Industries Ltd. plan to list their subsidiaries. Arif Habib, which has led two offerings this year, expects at least another five deals. The adviser has handled half of the 36 initial public offerings in the past decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Equity gains in Pakistan have been partly fueled by falling returns on fixed income after benchmark interest rates fell by almost half to 7 per cent. The nation's economic growth is also recovering thanks to a drop in new virus cases.