View source for Mahbub ul Haq

{{Short description|Pakistani economist (1934–1998)}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=January 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Other uses|Mahbubul Haq (disambiguation){{!}}Mahbubul Haq}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Mahbub ul-Haq 
| office              = 14th [[Minister of Finance (Pakistan)|Finance Minister of Pakistan]]
| alma_mater          = {{ubl|[[Punjab University, Lahore|University of The Punjab]] (B.S.)|[[King's College, Cambridge]] (B.A.)|[[Yale University]] (Ph.D.)}}
| termstart           = 9 June 1988
| termend             = 1 December 1988
| predecessor         = [[Yasin Wattoo]]
| successor           = [[Ehsan-ul-Haq Piracha]]
| president           = [[Ghulam Ishaq Khan]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1934|02|24}}
| birth_place         = [[Gurdaspur]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]], [[British Raj|British India]] (present-day [[Punjab, India]])
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1998|07|16|1934|02|22}}
| death_place         = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| image               =
| width               = 250px
| primeminister       = 
| nationality         = Pakistani
| profession          = Economist<br> Politician
| spouse              = Khadija Khanum
| children            = 2
| termstart1          = 10 April 1985
| termend1            = 28 January 1986
| predecessor1        = [[Ghulam Ishaq Khan]]
| successor1          = [[Yasin Wattoo]]
| primeminister1      = [[Muhammad Khan Junejo]]
| president1          = [[Zia ul-Haq]]
| native_name         = {{Nastaliq|محبوب الحق}}
| native_name_lang    = ur
}}

'''Mahbub ul-Haq''' ({{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|محبوب الحق}}}}; {{Birth date|1934|2|24|df=y}} {{snd}} {{Death date|1998|7|16|df=y}}) was a Pakistani economist, [[international development]] theorist, and politician who served as the minister of Finance from 10 April 1985 to 28 January 1986, and again from June to December 1988 as a [[Caretaker government|caretaker]]. Regarded as one of the greatest economists of his time, Haq devised the [[Human Development Index]], widely used to gauge the development of nations.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mahbub ul Haq|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/1998/07/23/mahbub-ul-haq|access-date=2020-05-16|issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

After graduating with a degree in [[economics]] from the [[Government College University, Lahore|Government College University]] in [[Lahore]], he won a scholarship to the [[University of Cambridge]] in [[England]], where he obtained a second higher degree in the same field. He later received his [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] from [[Yale University]] in the [[United States]] and conducted [[postdoctoral researcher|postdoctoral research]] at the [[Harvard Kennedy School]]. Haq returned to Pakistan to serve as the [[chief economist]] of the [[Planning Commission (Pakistan)|Planning Commission]] throughout the 1960s. In 1970, after the fall of [[Ayub Khan (general)|Ayub Khan]], Haq moved to [[Washington, D.C.]] to serve at the [[World Bank]] as Director of Policy Planning until 1982, where he played a major role in reorienting its approach to assisting development in [[Developing country|low-income countries]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Inaugural Mahbub ul Haq-Amartya Sen Lecture, UNIGE {{!}} Human Development Reports|url = http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/inaugural-mahbub-ul-haq-amartya-sen-lecture-unige|website = hdr.undp.org| date=January 2014 |access-date = 2016-02-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Amartya Sen - Biographical|url = https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/1998/sen-bio.html|website = www.nobelprize.org|access-date = 2016-02-23}}</ref>

He returned to Pakistan in 1982, and in 1985 assumed the position of Finance Minister with the [[Government of Pakistan]], and oversaw a period of [[economic liberalization]] in the country. In 1989, he moved back to the United States, where he served as the special adviser to the [[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP) under its head, [[William Henry Draper III]]. At the UNDP, Haq led the establishment of the [[Human Development Report]] and the widely-respected [[Human Development Index]] (HDI), which measures development by well-being, rather than by financial income alone. He returned to Pakistan in 1996 to establish the Human Development Centre in the capital city of [[Islamabad]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Honouring Mahbubul Haq - The Express Tribune|url = http://tribune.com.pk/story/1051667/honouring-mahbubul-haq/|website = The Express Tribune| date=21 February 2016 |access-date = 2016-02-23|language = en-US}}</ref>

Haq is considered to have had a profound effect on global development. His 1995 book, ''Reflections on Human Development'', is said to have opened new avenues to policy proposals for [[Human development (economics)|human development paradigms]], such as the [[United Nations Global Compact]] that was formed in 2000.<ref name="haq1">Mahbub ul Haq (1996) Reflections on Human Development. [[Oxford University Press]]. 288 pages. {{ISBN|0-19-510193-6}}</ref> [[Amartya Sen]] and [[Tam Dalyell]] judged Haq's work to have "brought about a major change in the understanding and statistical accounting of the process of development".<ref>{{Cite web|title = Obituary: Mahbub ul Haq|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-mahbub-ul-haq-1169323.html|website = The Independent| date=2 August 1998 |access-date = 2016-02-23|language = en-GB}}</ref> ''[[The Economist]]'' called him "one of the visionaries of international development".<ref>{{Cite news|title = Mahbub ul Haq|url = https://www.economist.com/obituary/1998/07/23/mahbub-ul-haq|newspaper = The Economist|access-date = 2016-02-23|issn = 0013-0613}}</ref> He was widely regarded as "the most articulate and persuasive spokesman for the developing world".<ref>{{Cite web|title = Dr. Mahbub ul-Haq|url = http://www.scu.edu/ethics/architects-of-peace/ul-Haq/homepage.html|website = www.scu.edu|access-date = 2016-02-23|archive-date = 13 June 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150613150352/http://scu.edu/ethics/architects-of-peace/ul-Haq/homepage.html|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Mahbub ul Haq and Human Development: A Tribute|jstor = 4407121|journal = Economic and Political Weekly|date = 1998-01-01|pages = 2275–2279|volume = 33|issue = 35|first = Sanjaya|last = Baru}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Haq was born into a [[Punjabi Muslims|Punjabi Muslim]] family on 24 February 1934 in the city of [[Gurdaspur]],<ref>Baru, Sanjaya (1988) Mahbub ul Haq and Human Development: A Tribute, ''Economic and Political Weekly'', Vol. 33, No. 35 (Aug. 29 - Sep. 4), pp. 2275-2279 (5 pages)</ref> [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]], British India (now located in the [[India|Republic of India]]).<ref name="The Independent">{{cite web|last1=Sen|first1=Amartya|title=Obituary: Mahbub ul Haq|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-mahbub-ul-haq-1169323.html|work=Amartya Sen, Tam Dalyell|publisher=The Independent|access-date=10 August 2012 |author2=Tam Dalyell|date=3 August 1998}}</ref> His teenage years saw widespread intercommunal violence and forced migration following the independence of India and Pakistan from British rule in August 1947.<ref name="The Independent"/> He and his family migrated from India to the newly-created state of Pakistan following the [[partition of India]]; Haq stated that they narrowly escaped being killed in one of the refugee trains heading to Pakistan.<ref name="The Independent"/> After reaching [[Lahore]], Haq was given government-sponsored housing and decided to continue his education.

In 1953, he graduated with a degree in economics from Lahore's [[Government College University, Lahore|Government College University]].<ref name="The Independent"/> He later earned a scholarship to attend [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]], where he earned another [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in the same discipline alongside Indian economist [[Amartya Sen]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Hindu-Muslim friendship that helped shape the world|url=https://www.indiaabroad.com/opinion/a-hindu-muslim-friendship-that-helped-shape-the-world/article_8d7b99be-16a3-11e8-8497-1b733461d959.html|access-date=2022-01-15|website=IndiaAbroad.com|language=en}}</ref> with whom he formed a close friendship.<ref name="The Independent"/> After renewing his scholarship, Haq went to [[United States]] for his doctoral studies at Yale University and obtained a PhD. Later, Haq carried out postdoctoral work at [[Harvard University]] in 1960–61.<ref name="The Independent"/>

==Career==

{{Rquote|right|An early proponent of economic liberalization who, in later years, argued that poor countries failed to prosper because they neglected the basic development of their people |[[New York Times]]|<ref name=NYT>BARBARA CROSSETTE. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/17/world/mahbub-ul-haq-64-analyst-and-critic-of-global-poverty.html Mahbub ul Haq, 64, Analyst And Critic of Global Poverty]". ''The New York Times''. July 17, 1998.</ref> }}
Upon returning to Pakistan in 1957 at the age of 23, Haq joined the [[Planning Commission (Pakistan)|Planning Commission]] as Assistant Chief while it prepared its first [[Five-Year Plans of Pakistan|Five-Year Plan]].<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite web|last=Crossette|first=Barbara|title=Mahbub ul Haq, 64, Analyst And Critic of Global Poverty|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/17/world/mahbub-ul-haq-64-analyst-and-critic-of-global-poverty.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=10 August 2012|page=2|date=17 July 1998}}</ref>
Influenced by the dominant economic thought in American academia, Haq advocated capitalism as the economic base of the national economy and helped guide the government to apply free-market principles to boost the economy. This approach was wholeheartedly embraced by the military government of General [[Ayub Khan]] after it came to power in October 1958. By the 1960s as Chief Economist of the Planning Commission Haq was delivering speeches all over the country in support of these economic policies.

While the international community was applauding Pakistan as a model of development, Haq developed concerns that all was not well with the distribution of the benefits of growth. Rapid economic development made Haq's team doubt the long-term viability of such a pattern of growth, and he increasingly supported heavier taxation of the asset owning classes. In a widely reported speech to the [[Applied Economics Research Centre]] at the [[University of Karachi]] in April 1968, Haq alleged that "22 industrial family groups had come to dominate the economic and financial life-cycle of Pakistan and that they controlled about two-thirds of industrial assets, 80% of banking and 79% of insurance assets in the industrial domain."<ref name="Human Development Center">{{cite web|title=System is to blame for the 22 wealthy families |url=http://www.mhhdc.org/html/system_blame.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722001847/http://www.mhhdc.org/html/system_blame.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 July 2013 |work=Human Development Center, Originally published on London Times |publisher=Human Development Center |access-date=6 September 2012 |page=1 |date=22 March 1973 }}</ref> The list included Dawood family of [[Dawood Group]], Saigols of [[Saigol Group]], Adamjees of [[Adamjee Group]], Colony, Fancy, Valika, Jalil, Bawany, Crescent, Wazir Ali, Gandhara, Ispahani, [[House of Habib]], Khyber, Nishat Group, Beco, [[Gul Ahmed Group]], Arag, Hafiz, Karim, Milwala and Dada.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://m.paycheck.pk/main/salary/celebrity-income/richest-families-in-pakistan/the-22-families/ |title=The 22 Families |access-date=2 February 2014 |archive-date=19 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219082846/http://m.paycheck.pk/main/salary/celebrity-income/richest-families-in-pakistan/the-22-families/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Human Development Center"/>

These revelations played a major role in mobilising millions in a [[1968 movement in Pakistan|massive grassroots protest movement]] that led to Field Marshal Ayub Khan's overthrow in March 1969. Following Ayub's fall, Haq accepted an invitation from [[Robert McNamara]], president of the [[World Bank]] to serve as his Director of Policy Planning. During his tenure (1970–82), Haq influenced the Bank's [[Human development (humanity)|development]] [[philosophy]] and [[lending]] policies, steering more attention towards [[poverty alleviation]] programmes and increased allocations for small farm production, [[nutrition]], [[education]], [[water supply]] and other [[social sector]]s. He wrote a study<ref name="haq2">Mahbub ul Haq (1976) The Poverty Curtain: Choices for the Third World. [[Columbia University Press]]. 247 pages. {{ISBN|0-231-04062-8}}</ref> that served as a precursor to the [[basic needs]] and [[Human development (humanity)|human development]] approaches of the 1980s.

While working at the World Bank, Haq was invited by Prime Minister [[Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto]] to join the Ministry of Finance, but ultimately refused as he had strong opposing views on Bhutto's [[Nationalization in Pakistan|program of nationalization]].<ref name="Oxford University Press, 2008">{{cite book|last1=Ponzio|first1=Richard|title=Pioneering the human development revolution: an intellectual biography of Mahbub Ul Haq|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press, 2008|location=United Kingdom|isbn=9780195695137|pages=256–260|author2=Khadija Haq |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S83rAAAAMAAJ |access-date=26 February 2014}}</ref> In 1973 Bhutto again asked Mahbub to return to Pakistan and join his administration in devising a strategy that would lift a large number of Pakistanis out of poverty and [[stagflation]], but their major differences persuaded Haq not to return.<ref name="Oxford University Press, 2008"/>

In 1982 Haq returned at the request of General [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|Zia-ul-Haq]]'s military government, where he assumed directorship of the Planning Commission. In 1983 Haq was appointed Minister of Planning and Development. According to Parvez Hasan 'under Mahbub's direction, the Planning Commission became once again a lively place and began to exert powerful influence on social sector issues, including education and [[family planning]], much neglected in earlier Zia years.

In 1985 President Zia oversaw a partial return to democracy with so-called [[1985 Pakistani general election|'non-party' general elections]], and Haq was sworn in as [[Minister of Finance (Pakistan)|Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Affairs]] in the [[Pakistan Muslim League|PML]] government of [[Mohammed Khan Junejo]]. Haq's is credited with significant [[tax reform]]s, [[deregulation]] of the [[economy]], increased emphasis on human development and several initiatives for poverty alleviation.<ref>[http://www.un.org.pk/hdc/Tribute%20Page.htm A Tribute to Dr Haq] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080124044503/http://www.un.org.pk/hdc/Tribute%20Page.htm |date=24 January 2008 }} at Human Development Centre website</ref> Despite this major acceleration in [[social spending]], Haq was forced to resign in January 1986 due to protests regarding his reforms. He was reappointed as Finance Minister in the caretaker administration established by General Zia-ul-Haq after he dismissed the Junejo government in May 1988. Haq's term ended when the PPP government of [[Benazir Bhutto]] was sworn in following the [[1988 Pakistani general election|general elections of November 1988]].

In 1989, he was appointed as Special Advisor to the [[UNDP]] Administrator [[William Henry Draper III|William Draper]] in New York City  to produce the first [[Human Development Report]].<ref>UNDP (1990) [http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1990_en.pdf Human Development Report 1990: Concept and Measurement of Human Development]. Oxford University press. {{ISBN|0-19-506480-1}}</ref> In this capacity, Haq initiated the concept of [[Human development (humanity)|Human Development]] and the [[Human Development Report]] as its Project Director. He  led a team of international scholars including [[Amartya Sen]], [[Paul Streeten]], [[Inge Kaul]], Frances Stewart, and [[Richard Jolly]] to prepare annual Human Development Reports.

In 1996, Haq founded the Human Development Center in [[Islamabad|Islamabad, Pakistan]] — a policy research institute committed to organizing professional [[research]], [[policy studies]] and seminars in the area of human development, with a special focus on [[South Asia]]. In acknowledgement of his contributions, the Human Development Centre, Islamabad was officially renamed following his death as the Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre on 13 December 1998, with Mrs. Khadija Haq as president.

==Death==
Haq died on 16 July 1998 in [[New York City]] at the age of 64, leaving behind his wife Khadija Haq, son Farhan and daughter Toneema.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

== Posthumous recognition ==

In honour of Haq, UNDP established the Mahbub ul Haq Award for Outstanding Contribution to Human Development, which is presented to a leading national, regional or world figure who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to furthering human development understanding and progress.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Human Development Awards {{!}} Human Development Reports|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/hd-awards|website=hdr.undp.org|access-date=2020-05-16}}</ref> The Mahbub ul Haq Award alternates between recognizing political leaders and civil society leaders. Recipients of this Award include:<ref>[http://hdr.undp.org/en/nhdr/monitoring/awards/ The Human Development Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218055727/http://hdr.undp.org/en/nhdr/monitoring/awards/ |date=18 February 2008 }}</ref>
* 2014 – [[Gro Harlem Brundtland]], former Prime Minister of Norway and a member of The Elders.
* 2009 – [[Frances Stewart (economist)|Frances Stewart]], author, researcher and advocate for human development.
* 2007 – [[Sheila Watt-Cloutier]], arctic community [[Activism|activist]].
* 2004 – [[Fazle Hasan Abed]], founder of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee ([[BRAC (NGO)|BRAC]]).
* 2002 – [[Fernando Henrique Cardoso]], [[President of Brazil]], 1995–2002

==Selected works==
* ''The Strategy of Economic Planning'' (1963)
* ''The Poverty Curtain: Choices for the Third World'' (1976). Columbia University Press. 247 pages. {{ISBN|0-231-04062-8}}
* ''The Myth of the Friendly Markets'' (1992)
* ''Reflections on Human Development'' (1996) [[Oxford University Press]]. 1st edition (1996): 288 pages, {{ISBN|0-19-510193-6}}. 2nd edition (1999): 324 pages, {{ISBN|0-19-564598-7}}
* ''The U.N. and the Bretton Woods Institutions: New Challenges For The Twenty-First Century'' / Edited By Mahbub Ul Haq ... [Et Al.] (1995)
* ''The Vision and the Reality'' (1995)
* ''The Third World and the international economic order'' (1976)
* ''New Imperatives of Human Security'' (1995)
* ''A New Framework for Development Cooperation'' (1995)
* ''Humanizing Global Institutions'' (1998)

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* UNDP [http://hdr.undp.org Human Development Reports] website
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041101032123/http://www.un.org.pk/hdc/ Mahbub-ul-Haq page on United Nations in Pakistan site] – Contains a tribute, his speeches and the Human Development Review Journal
* [http://www.mhhdc.org/ The Mahbub-ul-Haq Development Center]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071019055213/http://www.mhhdc.org/html/tribute1.htm Web site of Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre. Islamabad: A Tribute to Mahbub ul Haq]

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box |title=[[Finance Minister of Pakistan]]|
years=1985–1986|
before=[[Ghulam Ishaq Khan]]|
after=[[Mian Yasin Khan Wattoo]]}}

{{succession box |title=[[Finance Minister of Pakistan]] (caretaker)|
years=1988|
before=[[Mian Yasin Khan Wattoo]]|
after=[[Benazir Bhutto]]}}
{{end}}

{{Finance Minister of Pakistan}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haq, Mahbub ul}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:1998 deaths]]
[[Category:Ministers of finance of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Pakistani financiers]]
[[Category:Pakistani economists]]
[[Category:Pakistani inventors]]
[[Category:Development economists]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:Fellows of Pakistan Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988)]]
[[Category:Pakistani anti-communists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Karachi]]
[[Category:Game theorists]]
[[Category:University of the Punjab alumni]]
[[Category:People from Punjab Province (British India)]]