M. Shahid Alam

Muhammad Shahid Alam is a Pakistani economist, academic, and social scientist. He is a professor of economics at Northeastern University. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Policy Research & Development, London.^[1]

Background

Alam was born in East Pakistan, moving to Pakistan in 1971^[2] following the creation of Bangladesh from East Pakistan. He holds a BA from the University of Dhaka, an MA from the University of Karachi, and a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario.^[3] (1979)^[2] His brothers are, the PAF flying ace, Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam and particle physicist M. Sajjad Alam.

Career

Alam's academic writings focus, among other things, on the economic effects of Western foreign and economic policies on formerly colonized states. He writes critically about the present-day global wealth disparities produced by Western policies. He draws attention to the pro-capitalist ideological intent and Eurocentric biases of mainstream economics. An outspoken opponent of U.S. policies in the Middle East and the Global South,^[4] Alam has been the target of conservative commentators for his critical stance against U.S foreign policy and for supporting an academic boycott of Israel.^[5]

He has published many books, including Poverty from the Wealth of Nations (Macmillan, 2000), Governments and Markets in Economic Development Strategies (Praeger: 1989), Is There An Islamic Problem (Kuala Lumpur: The Other Press, 2004, republished in 2007 as Challenging the New Orientalism, IPI: 2007), and most recently, Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism (Palgrave Macmillan: 2009). He is also a regular contributor to CounterPunch magazine.^[6]

Works

Books

• Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
• Challenging the New Orientalism: Dissenting Essays on the "War Against Islam" (IPI, 2007).
• Is there an Islamic problem? : essays on Islamicate societies, the US, and Israel (The Other Press, 2004).
• Poverty From the Wealth of Nations: Integration and Polarization in the Global Economy since 1760 (Macmillan, 2000).
• Governments and Markets in Economic Development Strategies: Lessons From Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. (Praeger, 1989).

Selected academic articles

• "The Economy as an Energy System," Review of Radical Political Economics 41,2 (Winter 2009).
• "Some Economic Results of the Civilizing Mission" MPRA Paper, University Library of Munich, 2006.
• "Global Disparities Since 1800," Journal of World-Systems Research, July 2006, pp. 36–59.
• "A Short History of the Global Economy Since 1800" MPRA Paper, University Library of Munich, 2003.
• "A Theory of Limits on Corruption and Some Applications" Kyklos, 1995, 48, (3), 419-35.
• "Colonialism, Decolonisation and Growth Rates: Theory and Empirical Evidence" Cambridge Journal of Economics, 1994, 18 (3), 235-57.
• "Convergence and Polarization: Testing for an Inverted-U Relation between Growth Rates and GDP per Capita" Applied Economics, 1992, 24, (3), 363-66.
• "Convergence in developed countries: an empirical investigation" Review of World Economics, 1992, 128 (2), 189-201.
• "Trade Orientation and Macroeconomic Performance in LDCs: An Empirical Study," Economic Development and Cultural Change, 1991, 39, (4), 839-48

References

External links

• Faculty Page at Northeastern University