Monthly Archives: March 2009

An Indian Urban Voter’s manifesto

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Atanu Dey on India’s Development » Blog Archive » An Urban Voter’s Manifesto

As an urban Indian, I will vote for a party that promotes the values that matter to my country, my family, and me. I address this open letter to the political parties who seek my vote in the upcoming elections. Drop me a line if you can credibly demonstrate that you share the concerns and values that we have.

Here are my concerns.

1. Economic freedom.

* I want a government which generally leaves us alone. I don’t want a government that interferes in every aspect of our economic lives.
* I want a government that does not excessively tax my hard-earned money to fund wasteful expenditures.
* By chaining the economy, the government controls it to profit from it at the expense of the citizens. I want the government to liberalize the economy.

2. Personal freedom.

* I want a government that respects me as a citizen and not as a member of some religious, caste, linguistic, or vote bank group. I want to be treated equally and not discriminated against for whatever reasons.
* I want a government that does not dictate to me how I should live my life.

3. Education matters.

* I want my children to be educated. Government control of the education sector has crippled the system to the point that only the extremely wealthy can afford decent schooling. I want the government to get out of the education sector.
* I want a good education for my children because it is the only guarantee of success in an intensely competitive globalized world of today and the future.

4. Good governance.

* I see unimaginable corruption at all levels of government. Criminals routinely contest and win elections. I am not going to tolerate corruption any more. I will reject all parties that put up criminals as their candidates.
* I want the government to stick to the core functions and do them well. Primarily, I want the government to be responsible for internal security and I will hold the government accountable for the any lapses in security.

That’s all. I am not interested in GDP growth projections, on how by 2014 or whenever what is going to happen or not. I am not interested in empty promises about how India will become this or that superpower. I am quite capable of working hard and creating my own destiny.

I just want that the government do its job and I will do my bit. But I will not vote for any party that does not share my values and my concerns.

What is interesting is how Atanu has nailed down to the basics. Once these are provided then the people can create their own destiny. These are the “public good” stuff which the government needs to do.

Atanu @ ISB

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Atanu Dey on India’s Development » Blog Archive » Manufacturing Wealth: The Economics of Urbanization

That’s the title of the course I am conducting at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. It is a small class of about 15 students. It’s a half-credit elective in the final term of the year.

My friend Atanu is teaching a course at the Indian school of Business in my Indian home city of Hyderabad. He is really good at going through the basics and teaching what he calls ‘vocabulary’. His premise is the industrialization of India which depends on urbanization of India.

He quotes a 100 yr old article on India in The Atlantic to drive home the point.

Another cause [aside from taxation] of India’s impoverishment is the destruction of her manufactures, as the result of British rule. When the British first appeared on the scene, India was one of the richest countries of the world; indeed it was her great riches that attracted the British to her shores. The source of her wealth was largely her splendid manufactures. Her cotton goods, silk goods, shawls, muslins of Dacca, brocades of Ahmedabad, rugs, pottery of Scind, jewelry, metal work, lapidary work, were famed not only all over Asia but in all the leading markets of Northern Africa and of Europe. What has become of those manufactures? For the most part they are gone, destroyed. Hundreds of villages and towns of India in which they were carried on are now largely or wholly depopulated, and millions of the people who were supported by them have been scattered and driven back on the land, to share the already too scanty living of the poor ryot [small farmer]. What is the explanation? Great Britain wanted India’s markets. She could not find entrance for British manufactures so long as India was supplied with manufactures of her own. So those of India must be sacrificed. England had all power in her hands, and so she proceeded to pass tariff and excise laws that ruined the manufactures of India and secured the market for her own goods. India would have protected herself if she had been able, by enacting tariff laws favorable to Indian interests, but she had no power, she was at the mercy of her conqueror.

A fascinating story of how India was doing the right things in the past. If only we can learn from our past.

The lucky 15 in his class. I envy you!