“Is economics a science or an arts subject?”
“And the difference is?”
“Science to me means that laws of nature apply — so x plus y equals xy.”
“Wow?”
“What?”
“The Khan has a special relationship with those two letters, x and y though if truth be told I reckon x is the stronger of the two…”
“I thought the letter ain, the 24th letter of the alphabet…”
“And that my friend epitomizes the duel between good and evil — xy are evil and ain is good and…”
“Come on!”
“Well, look at this way – is there any leader opposed to The Khan who has the letter ain in his name — Zardari sahib, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto…”
“They don’t have the letters x or y in their names either.”
“That’s nature’s way of saying they are dangerous to The Khan but not that dangerous. Anyway as I began by saying science follows the laws of nature while the arts follow the dictates of the soul…”
“I see, so is economics a science or arts?”
“Just to further clarify before I answer your query there are many universities that give you a science degree in economics while others give an arts degree…”
“The jury is out then?”
“Indeed, now in Pakistan economics has been a science for perhaps one or two finance ministers while all others consider it an arts subject.”
“What about Ismail?”
“Ha ha, he deals with economics as neither science nor arts –Ismail considers economics as a trickle down….”
“Drip, drip, drip, drip…”
“Don’t be facetious…as Coleridge wrote in his poem water, water, everywhere and ne’er a drop to drink for the people of this hapless country.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022