If you wanted evidence that reasonably competent government — not great, not corruption-free, just not awful — produces good results in the end, here it is.

Back in 1971, when the two countries split apart, Bangladesh had 65 million people and Pakistan had 60 million. By the end of this century, Bangladesh will have around 80 million people — and Pakistan will have 250 million.

Bangladesh is usually seen as a seriously over-populated country, and it still is today at 160 million people. But its birthrate is dropping so fast that its population will halve by 2100, leaving it with no more people per square kilometer of farmland than the United Kingdom.