Statist to billionaires.

"The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)...restricted imports of certain laptops and computers under HSN8471 with immediate effect."ET. Restrictions imposed on "import of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers and ultra small form factor computers and servers. These electronics can be imported only against a valid license meant for restricted imports." "The Indian 'big state' has lately been striking back. As it did this week by announcing drastic controls on the import of personal computers, laptops, tablets and so on," wrote Shekhar Gupta. "The objective, we were told officially first, was to promote domestic manufacturing. By the very next day, the discourse had moved on. National security had taken precedence." "When national security is invoked, Indians usually trust their government and go silent." But, "Every now and then, pictures of VIP tours through India's top scientific facilities, especially the laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), pop up on social media (mostly Twitter), where sharp eyed observers note the presence of Chinese CCTV cameras, Hikvision being the most prominent brand." "The biggest reform of 1991 was industrial delicensing. In one swoop, it took away the power of bureaucrats to decide who would produce what, how much, where and for whom," wrote Ajit Ranade. Most importantly, "We need to import low-cost tablets in large volumes simply to remedy a covid-induced education deficit," and "As digital devices have a high rate of obsolescence, free and instant access to the latest products are imperative." Our $500 billion exports of software needs high-tech hardware. "This move to suddenly label items as restricted doesn't ban them, it merely adds to the red tape for businesses," wrote Tim Culpan. "The earlier import-tax policy - part of the 'Make in India' program - was likely a far bigger driver of manufacturing than the later incentives." "But a restrictive regime that is based on licensing amounts to neither carrot (incentives) nor stick (tariffs)." By combing the annual Forbes list of billionaires, Ruchir Sharma found, "There were 500 billionaires worth a total of less than $1tn in 2000; now there are 2,500 worth over $12tn." "Ironically, these include most prominently nations with deep socialist roots, including France, Sweden, Russia and India." "Among emerging markets, the 2023 analysis highlights two more nations with strong statist tendencies, India and Russia. In both, total billionaire wealth exceeds 20% of GDP - nearly double the average of other developing nations on my list." The state has a 'monopoly on violence' because of its control of the police and military. "Thus the words 'statism' and 'statist' describe institutions and political practices in which executive authority gathers increasing levels and varieties of power into its hands." pages.uoregon. As a result, "With the wealth of the crony-capitalist sector going up from 5 percent to almost 8 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the past decade, India ranks at 10th position in the British magazine The Economist's 2023 'Crony-Capitalism Index'." The Print. Since laptops and tablets are essential today we can expect more billionaires among those that hold licenses and those that grant them. Statist to crony capitalism to billionaires. Up the index.