On the road to Liberty

This is the Chinese year of the tiger and people are interested in saving the tiger from extinction more than ever. Several conferences are being held, and a lot of money is being thrown at saving the tiger, but all this can't work if the Government can't mitigate the conflict between locals and wild animals. The lack of agricultural productivity forces farmers to encroach on the habitat of the tigers. This has to be resolved. China and India can save the tigers by cooperating with each other. A shorter version of my article was published in The Wall Street Journal on August 25th. Asia’s economic potential was first demonstrated by the four tiger economies. In recent decade, the focus has shifted to China, India and others. While economies are growing, the real tigers in the wild are living a precarious existence. It is time to reap the environmental dividend from growing prosperity, and save the tiger from extinction. This is the Chinese Year of the Tiger! Undoubtedly, the fo...

Liberty Institute Briefing Paper on Trade and Development "Agricultural Trade Can Change the Poverty Ridden Face of Indian Countryside" was published in November 1999 For fifty years India has followed the most restrictive policy regarding agriculture. The result has been that while in 1947, 85% of Indians depended on agriculture which contributed to over 70% of Indian GDP, today the corresponding figures are 70% and 35% respectively. Not surprisingly the face of Indian agriculture we are most familiar with is one of abject poverty. Ironically, the much promoted India industry under the tutelage of the state while capturing a large chunk of the GDP has remained highly uncompetitive internationally, but Indian agriculture continues to enjoy competitive advantage in many crops despite years of neglect and denial of access to international markets. Opening up trade in agricultural products provides a tremendous opportunity to improve the lot of the farmers in developing countri...

My article titled "IPR protects Indian agriculture" was published in the newsletter of the Liberty Institute in May 1999. A lot has been said over the consequences of IPR in agriculture, and in areas where knowledge is said to have been traditionally handed down the generations. However, a proper IPR regime can help protect not only the foreign inventors, but also the domestic players. Following is a summary of the present status of IPR in some of the most prominent instances. TURMERIC In 1993, two American scientists of Indian origin filed a patent for use of turmeric to heal wounds. Initially the specification contained information on the prior knowledge of the various uses of turmeric and it also acknowledged that the pharmaco-kinetics involving the safety toxicity dosage and biological properties of turmeric are well known. It also said the main object of the invention is the use of turmeric powder at the site of injury by topical application and/or oral intake. The othe...