Re: Pakistani army's '$20bn' business
Pakistan's GDP as of 2006 = $437.5 billion (source CIA factbook) Maximum "alleged" holdings of Pakistan army = $20 billion Ratio of PA holding to GDP = 0.04571
Noise of anti-Pakistan and Arabised Pakistani elements = 1000 billion decibels
Funny funny funny!
antibol, your logic never fails to amaze me. That figure from CIA factbook is GDP in PPP
(Purchasing Power Parity) dollars. Actual GDP is around $130 Bn (129 Billion to be exact). Siddiqa's book mentions figures in real dollars, so now let's reuse your formula
Holdings of Pakistan army = $20 billion
Ratio of PA holding to GDP = 20/130 = 17% of the GDP
in a country of 170 Million, a staggering 17% of GDP held by the army that only represents a million or so people, or let me rephrase, a few thousand officers or a few dozen Generals. Yes, quite funny, isn't it?