When Ronald Reagan officially announced his candidacy for president of the United States in November 1979, he called for the establishment of a large free trade zone encompassing the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Not surprisingly, the so-called free trade agreement better known as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) resembled the usual “managed trade” that falls much more into the category of what Randall Holcombe calls “political capitalism.” Politics has a way of doing that.

When it comes to the political choices in India, Indians have no real choices.

All political parties in India, in one form or another, are wedded to the ideology of socialism and its variants like communism. Whether it is the ruling BJP Party or the major opposition Congress Party or the Aam Aadmi Party, they all are followers of socialism. They all present the statist view of the society where the individual is subordinate to the state and its ruling government. The government is our overlord, our nanny who is going to control and regulate every aspect of our lives.