On the road to Liberty

Nicholas Stern's report on climate change, focuses on reducing emission today, and therefore exposes its political agenda, rather than its economic concern. The present generation cannot help the future by restraining its consumption today. In a free society, increased consumption today triggers the chain of exploration and innovation that will prepare the future generation to deal much better with their present. I look at the key aspects of the Stern Report, in " Beware of Stern warnings " in the Hindustan Times, on 28 December 2006. During the colonial era, religious missionaries would often try to scare the local population with impending damnation, and then offer possible salvation if the people accepted the wisdom of their Book. Sir Nicholas Stern, the high-powered British bureaucrat and economist, seemed to be on a similar mission to India recently. Only, he predicted economic losses, natural disasters and disease and then offered salvation in the Stern Revie...

While on a trip to South-East Asian countries, I found that many are looking at India for health care policies. There is a belief among many, that with 97% of medicines in the Indian market being generic, and prices quite low, Indians must be enjoying a very good health. In this article, "How healthy is our health care system?" I look at the grim reality facing patients in India. International perceptions of India have been radically changing over the last few years, whether for her higher economic growth rate, the extraordinary rise of her IT sector or her potential as an emerging super-power. However, during recent trips to south-east Asia, this writer suddenly became aware of yet another perception of India. From Thailand to Malaysia to Philippines and Indonesia, it seems many people in Asia are looking at India as a model for health-care policy. This came as a surprise, given that commentators in India are generally united in the belief that the two areas where India fac...

My IPN Press release titled IPN to Participate In Montreal COP-11 Climate Meeting: 'Global Climate Control Not Cost Effective– Will Undermine Sustainable Development' was published on International Policy Network on December 1 2006 London, 1 December: Environment ministers from around the world will gather in Montreal, Quebec, next week at the COP-11 climate change meeting. International Policy Network will send four individuals to Montreal to participate in COP-11 from 5 to 9 December: • Kendra Okonski, Environment Programme director of IPN • Oliver Hartwich, Research Fellow, IPN • Barun Mitra, director of the Liberty Institute in New Delhi, India • Juan Carlos Hidalgo, Costa Rican- based policy analyst and IPN Research Fellow. These individuals share the view that attempting to control the climate through mandatory restrictions on carbon emissions, through the Kyoto Protocol or similar measures, would be harmful and counterproductive for both wealthy and poor co...

WHICH country is thinking about applying free-market principles to wildlife preservation and, in the process, improving the survival chances of a long-endangered species while giving its economy a boost? Communist China, of course. In this article, " Sell the tiger to save it ", published in the New York Times, on 15 August 2010, I propose that we harness the power of commerce for the cause of conservation of tigers. China joined the international effort to protect the tiger in 1993. But today there is a growing recognition among many Chinese officials that a policy of prohibition and trade restrictions has not benefited the tiger as much as it has helped poachers and smugglers of tigers and tiger parts. Conservationists say the worldwide illegal trade in forest products and wildlife is between $10 billion and $12 billion, with more than half of that coming from Asia. Of the planet’s estimated 5,000 wild tigers, about 75 percent are in India, which, like most nations, belie...

Sweeping through 2,000 years, Deepak Lal performs the vital task of making history relevant for contemporary world. I look at Prof Lal's " Reviving the Invisible Hand: The case for classical liberalism in the twenty-first century " in the Financial Express, on 23 July 2006. The trade negotiations at WTO are stalled. Clearly, ten years on, the multi-lateral platform provided by WTO has run out of steam. The focus has shifted to bilateral or regional trade talks, but this is fraught with many pitfalls. So, a few people, including this author, have been calling for unilateral trade liberalisation and economic reforms as a way to capitalise on the economic follies of nations who prefer protectionism. It is perhaps a coincidence that Deepak Lals latest book Reviving the Invisible Hand: The case for classical liberalism in the twenty-first century appeared at this time. Lal, a renowned development economist, has given a clarion call for unilateral trade and economic reforms. S...

My article titled Submission to DFID Consultation on International Development was pubilshed on International Policy Network on April 7, 2006. 1. What determines economic success and promotes economic growth in poor countries? ¡ñ How do factors such as a government¡¯s macroeconomic policy, investment, trade, the environment, or regional markets and institutions affect the private sector¡¯s ability to raise the levels of growth? ¡ñWhat are the obstacles to growth and how can they be removed? 9. How can the UK Government make sure that international trade negotiations deliver the benefits needed for developing countries? ¡ñHow can trade barriers be broken down so that developing countries get better access to regional and international markets? The three factors that primarily affect economic performance in poor countries are weak rule of law and enforcement of property rights, rising levels of regulations that reduce competition and increase the cost of entrepreneurship...

My article titled In abundance, scarcity was published on International Policy Network on March 3, 2006. ONE fifth of Earth's inhabitants lack access to safe drinking water and two fifths lack adequate sewerage. But it is neither scarcity nor overpopulation that makes this abundant natural resource an increasingly scarce commodity: it is the heavy hand of government. Even India's north-eastern state of Assam - one of the wettest places on earth - suffers periodic bouts of government-induced water scarcity. Yet Australia, the driest place on Earth, exports agricultural produce. People are paying the price for this, and the poorest are paying with their lives. For the past week, thousands of officials, researchers, businesses and international agencies have been meeting at the fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City. This year's slogan is "local action for global challenges" and it might contain the beginnings of a push for local initiative to replace government m...

Individuals, entrepreneurs and communities are not waiting for government to fulfill empty promises and fill empty water pipes. Private initiatives in India, Africa, Latin America and Asia are already sustaining local markets and improving access for millions. My article titled Water: Scarcity in plenty was published in Business Day on 23rd March 2006. A fifth of the earth's inhabitants lack access to safe drinking water, and two-fifths lack adequate sewerage. But it is neither scarcity nor overpopulation that makes this abundant natural resource a scarce commodity: it is the heavy hand of government. India's northeastern state of Assam ó one of the wettest places on earth ó suffers periodic bouts of government-induced scarcity. Yet Australia, the driest place on earth, exports agricultural produce. For the past week, thousands of officials, researchers, businesses and international agencies have been meeting at the fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City. This year's slog...

My IPN press release titled Governments Restrict Access to Healthcare and Prevent Medicine Development was publishedon International Policy Network on March 23rd 2006. London: 50 per cent of people in parts of Africa and Asia have no access to medicines due to harmful government policies, reports the Civil Society Report on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Health. The document produced by 16 civil society organizations from around the world, is being released ahead of a report on a similar theme from the World Health Organization. Examples of harmful government interventions identified in the report are: Taxes and tariffs of up to 55 per cent on imported medicines price people out of treatment. Byzantine and costly registration requirements mean many medicines already approved in the US, EU and Japan are simply not registered in most poor countries because manufacturers cannot justify the investment in registration. Health insurance is hampered by government regulations, so the ...

There is a fine difference between a resource and waste. A waste becomes a resource when someone is willing to pay the owner to acquire it; it remains a waste if the owner has to pay someone to dispose of it. I look at the debate over ship-breaking in this article, " Breaking the set notion ", published in the Hindustan Times, on 13 January 2006. More than 150 years ago, the French economist and legislator Frederic Bastiat had written “There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen.” The present debate over the decommissioned French aircraft carrier, Clemenceau, being sent to Alang in Gujarat for dismantling and recycling highlights the relevance of Bastiat’s idea of “what is seen and what is not seen”. Clemenceau is a 265-m long ship, weighing about 26,000 tons. Recycling it could open ...

The "Project Tiger" was launched thirty years back. But, there are only a few thousand tigers in the wild, and half of them are in India. The policy of prohibition of trade has hurt tiger conservation in India. The situation is similar in China. The officials of China are are considering harnessing a limited form of commerce for the cause of tiger conservation. At the same time, in India, the tiger crisis has expanded India’s bureaucracy.It is necessary to have a successful wildlife economy to build awareness of the value of environmental resources.This will result in the thriving of legal trade. My article titled China and India Move in Radically Different Directions was published in Perc in Fall 2006. NEW DELHI, INDIA—More than thirty years after the launch of "Project Tiger," the most high-profile conservation program in the world, barely 5,000 to 6,000 tigers are left in the wild, over half of them estimated to be in India. Since the 1970s, India has enacted to...