On the road to Liberty

Isn't it ironic that almost everyone agrees that the tiger is a priceless animal, yet, after decades of effort to save the tiger the future of the tiger seem as uncertain as ever. For decades, at every international gathering on wildlife, everyone agonises at the fate of the tiger, but hardly anyone is able to come up with some fresh thinking. In this article, "Save the tiger: Commercial road to conservation" , published in the Economic Times, on 9 April 1999, I look at some of the other species that have made a come back powered by commerce. Recently, the Tiger Forum, an international gathering of countries where tigers are still economy available in the wild, and NGOs, held its meeting in Bombay. Although Project Tiger, the most famous conservation project in India and the world, has just completed its 25th anniversary the delegates did not have anything to cheer. The participants grimly reminded each other of the fall in the number of tigers, and once again predicted ...

My article titled "Save the tiger: Commercial road to conservation" was published in The Economic Times on 9th April 1999. Recently, the Tiger Forum, an international gathering of countries where tigers are still economy available in the wild, and NGOs, held its meeting in Bombay. Although Project Tiger, the most famous conservation project in India and the world, has just completed its 25th anniversary the delegates did not have anything to cheer. The participants grimly reminded each other of the fall in the number of tigers, and once again predicted that tigers may be extinct in the next 5 to 10 years. It might seem ironic that tiger, such a prized animal, is facing extinction, with barely 3600 of them around in India today. While much less valued animals - cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, dogs, etc. - have thrived, because of their value, economic and otherwise, despite being "exploited" for thousands of years. Economics of greed is responsible for the illegal kil...

My article titled "Going Beyond Good Intentions: A look at Amartya Sen" was published in April 1999. In the battle over economics, the victory of the market forces seemed decisive. It had not been easy. Since the days of Adam Smith, the world economy had to cross the turbulent waters of colonialism, mercantilism, socialism, fascism, and communism before liberalisation, globalisation, privatisation, became accepted part of our general vocabulary. But even before the process of consolidation is over, it now seems that free market ideas are faced with insidious threats as never before. Indeed, the popular appeal of socialist ideas was not primarily based on economic principles but on its ethical and political ones - an egalitarian worldview. (Discussions rarely focussed on the morality of the methods that would be necessary to create such a world order.) On the other hand, the advocates of free market rarely went beyond economics and utility, and generally ignored the moral basi...