The Navel… and the WTO
Published by sauvik January 22nd, 2006 in Economics, Libertarian, PhilosophyAnother blow for unilateral free trade and methodological individualism - this time from The New Indian Express on Sunday - the south Indian paper.
6 Responses to “The Navel… and the WTO”
- 1 Pingback on Jun 18th, 2006 at 11:58 am
- 2 Trackback on Feb 1st, 2008 at 11:28 pm
“All imported goods are more valuable to us because they are scarce” Quite a sweeping statement.. isn’t it?
As for the exercise that you suggest, if unilateral trade is what you are suggesting, where do you think I’ll get the money to buy all these goods you are asking me to? Won’t the skewed demand and supply statement affect some of us adversely?
I’m just attempting to grapple with economics… Would really appreciate if you could clarify your side as well as point out the inconsistencies in my assumptions/arguments.
sure, sun: all imported maal sold at a premium in isolationist india, especially prior to 1990 - because people valued them higher!
at an individual level, we specialise in selling one thing in order to buy hundreds and thousands of things from others. the latter activity, buying, matters very much to us, and we scout around energetically trying to get the best deals and bargains. with economic isolationism, we failed as consumers. that is a major reason why we were poor. we worked hard - but could buy nothing of worth.
many of us, like messrs bajaj, birla and tata, liked isolationism because it helped us as producers. but even then, if mr bajaj wanted cheese, he could only get amul - the taste of india. no emmental, no edam, no cheddar: just amul and only amul. they too failed as consumers.
of course, the masses were not ‘big producers’, just workers. they worked hard and earned their irredeemable papers, but couldn’t use it even to buy a good car or a bottle of italian wine. or good cheese. no jeans, no music systems. it was hell. do think deeper about the benefits of free trade. it means we all succeed as consumers, and all producers, from all over the world, COMPETE for our custom. big, big wins for all of us when we go shopping.
also, why is shopping more fun than working? think about it. what’s the point of working and then getting only rotten deals when you go shopping?
do visit www.ccsindia.org and buy a copy of my “Free Your Mind: A Beginner’s Guide to Political Economy.” it is a good place to start.
Sun:
no one is asking to buy imported goods. You may not be able to afford them, like most of us. But you can make a fine living as a shop-keeper selling those imported goods to the rich, tasteless, motherfuckers who usually hoard up their money behind their bathroom walls.
Think about it. Nobody is forcing anybody to buy anything they can’t afford. And, you’re right, the supply of expensive imported goods is ultimately going to be bounded by their demand back home. Private entrepreneurs won’t bring more unless they want to make a loss.
Hey SAUVIK, paaji, blog this:
India to get its own social security system
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/jan/22sss.htm
imported goods need not be expensive. after all, they will sell only if they are better and cheaper than domestic produce. in the old, isolationist era, they were selling at a premium because of trade restrictions. a bottle of head&shoulders shampoo, for example, cost over 300 rupees then. today, a poor man can get a sachet of the same for Rs. 1.50.
of course, millions can make a good living as dealers of imported goods. unilateral free trade means that the entire land mass of this sub-continent becomes the largest duty-free shopping area in the whole world!
think!