Growing integration of economic analysis and policy making
over the last several decades has created, as a by-product, an ever
increasing flow of economic statistics, which still continues to grow in
scope and detail. This is especially true in developed countries, where
the various statistical offices produce each year an amount of new
material which could easily fill a respectable bookcase. This is also
true in the developing countries where the requirements for rational
development planning and policy preparation are increasing rapidly and
most of the statistical agencies have a difficult time in trying to keep
up with these demands. One of the most comprehensive descriptions of an
economy, which is receiving increasing attention at the policy
formulating level, is provided within the framework of an input-output
table, and Dr. Rasul has made it his task to produce such a table for
the Pakistan economy of 1954. This is a staggering task, generally done
by a team of statisticians instead of by one person. The author
deserves, therefore, a tribute of respect for his courage and
perseverance in undertaking this work. This is even more the case when
one realises that this project was undertaken at a distance of several
thousand miles from Pakistan, in the Netherlands Economic Institute in
Rotterdam or at the author's home in the Hague.
