"I want to give some advice to The Khan."
"You might as well save your breath, he ain't listening to you."
"Why? Isn't it sensible to listen to advice and he may decide not to take it but it could be advice that he may decide to take."
"Hey, he isn't listening to advice from his close aides so why do you think he would listen to advice from the likes of you..."
"There is no reason to get uppity, whatever you say I will give him advice."
"Are you going to urge him to assess the performance of his technocrats as well?"
"Yes, for example, Dr Hafeez Sheikh's performance evaluation must be based on the deal he signs with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)."
"Do you think Hafeez Sheikh bothered to present an alternate framework to what was proposed by the Fund? Or simply tried to minimize the Fund's politically challenging conditions?"
"That would mean Dr Sheikh is kind of lazy."
"Or he didn't have enough time, but then he could have delayed the Fund mission."
"Right, anyway Sheikh is not known for out of the box thinking..."
"Just as well then neither is the IMF; and need I add this view is shared by many who left the IMF for precisely that reason."
"Right, and since the Governor State Bank has left the Fund, even though he may have left for greener pastures..."
"Let's be fair to him, the SBP has never ever resisted IMF conditions - it's the finance Ministry that does."
"True, anyway my other recommendation to The Khan is..."
"I see you aren't gonna give up your futile effort to..."
"No I am not. He should levy a carbon air tax. Wait, let me finish...a mandatory study carried out in the US after the amendments to the clean air act in 1990 (actual act was passed in 1970) revealed that in 20 years there was a 40 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide, a 30 percent reduction in oxides of nitrogen, a 50 percent reduction in carbon monoxide, and a 45 percent reduction in total suspended particles which accounted for central health benefits of around 21 trillion dollars."
"With industrial output declining this year and the Federal Board of Revenue now focused on dealing with the trust deficit this may not be the appropriate time..."
"The polluting industries must pay tax and these are mainly big industries who I reckon were clients of our new FBR Chairman so he would be able to determine exactly..."
"I don't think that is what he meant by ending the trust deficit though I grant you if a carbon tax is imposed it is unlikely to be reversed by other administrations as once money begins to come into the kitty from a source subsequent administrations are reluctant to do away with it."
"And final advice to The Khan: please, pretty please abandon the practice of laying the foundation stones and instead inaugurate only completed projects..." "Ain't gonna happen now and in the unlikely event that it does its going to be abandoned when the administration changes.