THE condition of the economy is getting out of hand. Though the new coalition government is faced with a judicial crisis and a difference of opinion on how to deal with Pervez Musharraf, it is another two issues that are swiveling way out of control: the situation in FATA and the NWFP, and the economy. As opposed to the former two, the key variables in the latter are not endogenous. For example, despite its seriousness, the economy makes the President issue look rather benign, simply a matter of getting a couple of individuals (who more or less agree on the basic principle) around to the same mode of action. And a decision on the issue can be deferred and moderated. Contrast that to the fact that $2.231 billion of our reserves have been wiped out since this April. The economy's descent continues unabated. It is run not by arbitrary factors or differences of opinion but by hard facts on the ground. Unabated as well is the stride of inflation, the worst that the nation has seen in recent decades. Just this week's SPI shows a whopping 30 percent inflation for the nation's poor. And this trend has been continuing since a long time. Though it is true that the economy has been on the receiving end of some pretty dodgy management for the last eight years, the new government cannot keep hiding behind this for long. Granted, certain decisions on the economy can haunt a country for years to come but the electorate, being what it is, expects the new government to sort things out. In fact, no matter how badly incumbents have messed things up, that is the basic premise behind a dispensation or a political party seeking a vote: We've got a plan. How the current economic crisis is managed is going to set in stone public perceptions about democratic governance. It is time for international agencies like the World Bank and IMF, self-professed champions of democracy, to know when the future of democracy in a country is at stake and help out.