On Friday, October 13, 2023, Dr. Qais Aslam, Ex-Chairman Department of Economics, Government College University, came to deliver a lecture to the participants of 34^th SMC on “Basic Concepts of Microeconomics for Decision Making”

The distinguished guest speaker gave an overview of the basic concepts applying them to Pakistan’s context. He explained that economics is a science of managing your scarce resources and not of usage. Having abundance of resources is not what concerns economics, rather it’s the was those resources are used by a country that interests economists. He very aptly explained the concepts of utility, economics goods, rationality and opportunity cost. He spoke about the market economy highlighting how the market operates through the invisible hand of self-interest. He also elucidated that the governments should intervene only to make markets efficient, to promote equity or in case where markets fail.

He later responded to questions raised by the participants and highlighted that the problem with Pakistan was that the policy makers were not making research to explore new avenues for selling the country’s products, He also emphasized the need for scientific education for the youth to set the base for industrialization of the country.