Good policies may not win, but bad ones do not lose either.

Abbott Laboratories is withdrawing two types of stents from India because of government diktat to reduce their prices. Following Abbott's decision Medtronic also decided to withdraw its latest stents from India and Boston Scientific said it is studying the order and will not sell its latest stents. "It is Economics 101 and supply shortage or withdrawal is the most natural, immediate and lasting consequence of price controls. We thought we had settled those issues. Private-sector bashing is back in fashion. We are back in the 1970s," wrote Anantha Nageswaran. The center is not the only one playing these games. "Gujarat has imposed caps on school fees and the West Bengal government has capped the fees that hospitals charge." These are designed to cover deficiencies in providing essential services to the people by transferring the blame on to private service providers. "...in the name of implementation of the right to education, state governments across the country are forcing many private schools to shut down. New ones set up by minorities are taking their place, as they are exempt from the provisions of The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Act." We can expect more communal riots in the future. The RTE Act was passed by the Congress, which proves that all politicians are the same in India. If more proof is required, goons belonging to Hindu organisations are indulging in random acts of violence and attacking the police when culprits are arrested. Exactly the same as the violence of Trinamul goons against political opponents in West Bengal or the violence against voters by the previous government of the Samajwadi Party in UP. At the time the BJP said that the SP is a party of goons and mafia. Not much different from the BJP is it? With the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, service tax will go up to 18%. To cover that the government is blaming restaurants for including a service charge in their bills. Restaurants say that taxes are responsible for high bills, which is true. We can choose a restaurant with low service charge but we cannot avoid taxes. Why do all politicians behave the same? Because, good economic policies do not translate into victories at elections. Studies cannot prove that BJP's loss in 2004 was because the poor were left behind or the victory of the Congress in 2009 was because of handouts, like MGNREGA, wrote Vivek Dahejia. "...if it is difficult to prove that good economics is good politics, it is equally difficult to prove that bad economics is good politics," he wrote. Maybe, but bad economics is not bad politics either. That is why politicians revert to the same old policies of handouts coupled with violence. The output gap is close to 6%. "If recent short-term policy decisions continue, India will find itself revisiting the stagflation it experienced in the final years of the United Progressive Alliance government." That will be when the BJP will be booted out. But not in 2019.