If you want to laugh read our news.

Uttar Pradesh will hold elections to the state assemby next year, so abuse between politicians is getting exceedingly crude everyday. What fun! First, a BJP politician, Dayashankar Singh said that Ms Mayawati, Chief of BSP, is worse than a prostitute, for selling election tickets to highest bidders. This naturally caused a huge outcry and Mr Singh was promptly expelled from the party. Rightly so. He will slink back in quietly after all furore has died down. Mr Singh should be censured for disparaging prostitutes who are as much citizens of this country as he is. The BSP has filed a FIR with the police for the abuse. It should have finished here. But this being India party supporters have to prove their absolute devotion to leaders in expectation of a share of the spoils should they manage to win the elections. So BSP workers staged protests and abused Singh's mother, wife and 12 year old daughter in filthy language. Instead of showing her outrage at this abuse of women Ms Mayawati, who just the day before had waxed eloquent about sexism, justified her party goons by saying that this will teach a lesson to Singh. Now Singh's wife has filed a FIR against Mayawati and members of her party. Ms Mayawati is worshipped with garlands of notes by her supporters. While threatening hapless women with violence politicians are very conscious of their own security. One member of parliament filmed his passage from the main gate to inside the building and posted it on Facebook, apparently showing positions of security personnel. At first he tried to brazen it out but has now tendered a written apology to the Speaker. Sadly for him, another MP, who was suspended from the same party last year, has complained that he reeks of alcohol, so that she cannot breathe. India is the only country in the world where state governments love alcohol, because of the revenue it brings, but politicians pretend to hate it because it brings votes from women. Politicians probably get their supplies tax-free from duty free shops or from friendly foreign embassies, but they tax alcohol by several hundred per cent to finance their luxurious lives. A Free Trade Agreement with the European Union cannot be concluded because of the EU demand for lower taxes on wines and spirits. All this time Indian companies were using Britain to get access to the huge EU market but after Brexit the government will need to help our companies. While Delhi is knee deep in water after a short drizzle, giving mosquitoes ample space to breed and spread viruses, Chief Minister Kejriwal is in Gujarat inciting police to revolt against the government. Those living outside India must find it hilarious reading about our politicians but for us who live here life is almost hellish. Helpless, so we laugh.

It will surely be better than a Hollywood movie.

The Republican convention ended with Donald Trump as the accepted candidate for the party, although some within the party are against him. Ted Cruz, who was the last one to accept defeat, after losing the Indiana primary, was booed loudly by delegates when he refused to endorse Trump at the convention. That was an attempt at sabotaging Trump and makes him a sore loser. He has tried to justify it by saying that Trump had insulted his wife and his father. If so, he has every right to be offended, but he could have stayed away, like the Bush family and Kasich did. We think that the biggest traitors are in India, as we saw when fellows, who were elected as members of the BJP, actively undermined the party during Bihar elections. They did not have the decency to resign their seats in parliament, with all the perks that come with them, which makes them paticularly repugnant. Americans are no different, are they? Trump gave a long, somewhat rambling speech during which he blamed the present administration for increasing crimes, attacks on police, terrorism and uncontrolled immigration. Like all political speeches, it was mixture of facts, half-truths and false assertions. For the present Trump has pulled nearly equal with Hillary Clinton but this will change next week when the Democrat convention starts. Attacks will be fierce. Trump has never held public office so the attacks will be personal. He will be called a sexist, a racist, a xenophobe, a liar, a crook and any other name that they can think of. People have heard all that before. The debates between Trump and Clinton will be interesting. Trump will really have to work hard to get his facts right. We do not know if Melania Trump's speech was deliberately sabotaged to make it look like plagiarism so Trump has to select his advisers very carefully. Clinton's experience with public office is both an asset and a millstone because she is open to allegations of incompetence, at best, and being deceitful, at worst. The challenge of Bernie Sanders has seriously shaken her confidence so that she is having to depend on Obama to support her campaign. Not so long ago Bill Clinton, husband of Hillary, was know to despise Obama. "  I hate that man Obama more than any man I've ever met, more than any man who ever lived," said Bill Clinton. While Michelle Obama called Hillary a "Hidebeest". She refused to invite the Clintons to dinner and wanted Joe Biden to run for president. Spiteful people, aren't they? Now Obama desperately needs Hillary Clinton to protect his tatty legacy. His only achievement the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is sinking and will surely by dismantled if Trump wins.  He dissuaded Biden from running and is using all his influence to make sure that Trump does not win. He can bring all African-Americans to vote for Clinton. Whatever happens it will be interesting. Better than going to a movie.

What if we do not want to serve our masters?

Former Governor of the Reserve Bank, D Subbarao, has written a book saying that the then Finance Minister, Chidambaram tried to force him to reduce interest rate when inflation was already running very high. When Subbarao refused to comply the Congress government retaliated by refusing to extend contracts of 2 deputy governors of the RBI. Recently, former minister in the same Congress government, Jairam Ramesh had this to say," So, this controversy, which now Dr Subbarao has also entered, it is most unnecessary.....because the Finance Minister has to weigh so many considerations, whereas the Governor of Reserve Bank of India can afford to be single-minded in his approach. Prime Ministers cannot, Finance Ministers cannot. So, I think Dr Subbarao has done grave injustice to his political masters." Firstly, politicians are not our masters, although they have given themselves all the powers to suppress us, and keep devising new tricks, like Aadhar cards and cashless society, to take away whatever little freedom we have left. Secondly, all ministers should be single-minded in their efforts to improve the economy, reduce poverty and make the nation stronger, and not follow orders blindly to hang on to their posts. Ramesh is, or was, an economist and the former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh boasts of a D.Phil in economics from Oxford, no less. The present government is no different, having forced Raghuram Rajan to resign by treating him with great disrespect, because he is not reducing interest rate, when retail inflation is rising. A politician in India would never resign regardless of insults or humiliation. Rajan has cut policy rate by 150 basis points, from 8% to 6.5%, while retail inflation has risen to 5.77%, after dropping below 4%, and the Asian Development Bank is predicitng a rate of 5.8% next year. Politicians argue that inflation is caused by food, which is a supply side problem and not of demand, and inflation has come down because of lower oil prices, and not because of the high interest rate by the RBI. What they are hiding is what inflation rate they are willing to inflict on us. Rajan was aiming for a rate of 4%, plus/minus 2%, setting the upper limit at 6%, whereas politicians want a rate of 5% which sets the upper limit at 7%. The Finance Minister cannot understand why people should expect high interest on their savings when inflation is running so high. That is because politicians get everything free on taxpayer money, including companion, while taxpayers get nothing in return for the taxes they pay. Low rates of interest encourage the rich to borrow heavily from banks. 8,167 people have defaulted on Rs 767 billion loans to banks. When you are masters you feel entitled. 

Innocent freshness or polished platitudes, what is preferable?

It seems to be a custom in the US for a candidate's wife to give a speech extolling her husband who is running for office. We should have the same in India, it will make boring elections so much more enjoyable, to watch each lady trying to prove her extreme devotion to her husband. Couple of days back it was Melania Trump's turn to speak at the Republican Convention about her husband Donald. Now this is a lady who was born in Slovenia, worked in Milan and came to the US in 1996. During her speech she repeated a paragraph straight out of Michelle Obama's speech to the Democratic Convention in 2008. Michelle Obama is a lawyer, born and educated in the US and her husband is the champion gasbag of the world, so she wrote her own speech, but we are not sure of Melania Trump's knowledge of English. She apparently said that she wrote her own speech but whether she meant that she wrote every word or just suggested the ideas is not clear. A speechwriter has now accepted responsibility for the plagiarism but whether she did it on purpose we do not know. It is unimaginable that a professional speechwriter will not know that in today's world, where everyone is armed with Google, her action will be detected within minutes, as it was, causing acute embarassment to Melania. Donald Trump is a highly divisive figure, but so is Obama. The US has not been so racially divided since the Rodney King riots of 1992. It was eye-opening to see the sheer delight in the liberal media at this innocent lady's discomfiture. These people are usually highly sympathetic to terrorists, who they see as misunderstood children, to be hugged with sweet words of comfort. But these same people were enjoying repeating that bit of video over and over again with such mean spite that it was painful to watch. Being liberal obviously does not mean being generous, understanding or sympathetic. On another note, Sam Allardyce, also known as 'Big Sam', is to be appointed as the new manager of England following the resignation of Roy Hodgson, after the humiliating defeat by Iceland in France, in Euro 2016. He is the same man who was sacked as manager of Blackburn Rovers by the Venkys, the chicken magnates, after they bought the club in 2010. Blackburn were relegated that season and have not been able to get back to the Premier League. That is a loss of almost 200 million pounds per season. Obviously, running a football club is not the same as selling chicken. The Democrat Convention is next week and we will see a highly synchronised event and we will see Hillary Clinton, another lawyer, giving a flawless speech, with the same platitudes in high flowing language. How stale, same old, same old.

It seems like something we have seen before.

When the Egyptian revolution took place in January, 2011 commentators were hoping that Egypt will transform into a secular democracy like Turkey. At that time we argued that there was a greater possibility of Egypt turning into another Pakistan because, like the Pakistani army, the army in Egypt controls a large chunk of business in the country. If the army staged a coup the Muslim Brotherhood will resort to terrorist attacks like the Taliban in Pakistan. We also predicted tha Erdogan will slowly turn Turkey into an Islamist state. About 4 days back there was apparently a coup in Turkey. Seems that two F-16 fighter jets locked onto President Erdogan's plane, as it was flying to Istanbul from Marmaris, but did not fire. Also apparently there was an attaack on his palace in Marmaris (how many palaces does this guy have?) minutes after he had left. Seems that the entire coup attempt had been designed to fail, doesn't it? For a coup to be successful the plotters should seize the media and be able to convince people of their imminent victory, which brings support from fence-sitters in defence forces. Erdogan was able to contact a private television station from his iPhone to demonstrate that he was still free. This is the excuse that allows Erdogan to purge over 50,000 people, consisting of army personnel, police, judges, civil servants and teachers. Iran also purged the armed forces after the revolution in 1979 but had to release many from prison when the war with Iraq broke out in 1980. Previously, Erdogan got many army officers arrested on charges of plotting a coup in 2003 but all the officers were released in 2012 when all the evidence against them was proved to be forged. This time 243 people have been killed to make it look more solid. This failed attempt gives total power to Erdogan which has been his ambition all along. Like all thugs Erdogan is drunk with his power and thinks he is invincible. The NATO is a big source of his strength because it is committed to protecting Turkey in case of an attack by another force. That is what Erdogan tried to engineer when Turkish planes shot down a Russian jet returning from a bombing mission in Syria. Erdogan wanted to stop Russians from bombing ISIS oil trucks because he was making vast sums of money from oil smuggling. In February the NATO warned Erdogan that it will not participate in a war with Russia. Like all dictators Erdogan, and wife, spend the nation's wealth on personal enrichment and luxuries. So, what happens now? No doubt Erdogan will consolidate his power and his ecstatic supporters will beat up anyone they do not like. He can convert schools to madrassas like Zia-ul-Haq did in Pakistan but at some point he will realise that once you let the Islamist genie out of the bottle you cannot put it back in. Will Obama have the spine throw Turkey out of NATO, which is the only action which will bring some sense to this thug? So far Obama has no evidence of a spine. We wait.

If you do not protect income how are you protecting people?

Donald Trump has promised a 35% tax on cars and parts produced by Ford in Mexico and a 45% tax on imports from China, inviting criticism from economists. So, is protectionism necessarily a bad thing asks Professor Eichengreen from the US. If the US imposes taxes on imports from other countries they will retaliate by imposing taxes on US goods and global trade will suffer as investment collapses. Apparently, the Great Depression was exacerbated by the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930. But that reasoning may not apply to the present slowdown in global growth. " When the economy is in a liquidity trap - when demand is deficient, prices are stagnant or falling and interest rates approach zero - normal macroeconomic logic goes out the window," writes the professor. If President Trump imposes taxes on goods from China and President Xi retaliates by imposing taxes on goods from the US trade should fall and both countries should suffer. " But when deflation looms, upward pressure on prices is just what the doctor ordered. Higher prices encourage firms to raise production and households to increase their spending. They also reduce the burden of debts. And because inflation is still too low, owing to depressed macroeconomic conditions, there is no need for the Fed to raise interest rates and offset any inflationary effects of the increase in spending." Free trade is not necessarily good for developing countries. China and Vietnam developed by imposing business subsidies, domestic-content requirements, investment regulations and import barriers, while Mexico has languished by relying on free trade alone. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China had phenomenal export-led growth when import tariffs in the US and Europe were higher than they are today. Free trade deals may not be necessary. People in rich countries see free trade as the cause of rising unemployment and falling living standards. This is what binds Donald Trump and Brexit. People, who were solid Democrats in Pittsburgh, are going to vote for Trump. Why? " We've lost people here," said Del Signore." Why did we lose people? Because we lost the coal, the coal mining jobs. We lost the steel mill jobs. We lost the railroad jobs. Because they went overseas, or somewhere else, and we've suffered. It's a shame. But that's what happened. We're the Rust Belt." Why is there a liquidity trap when central banks in the US, Europe and Japan have poured trillions of dollars into their economies by buying up bonds, also known as Quantitative Easing? At the same time interest rates are close to zero in the US and negative in the Eurozone and 4 other countries. Nations protect their borders, what is wrong in protecting their economies? Only if they can stand up against business lobbies. Need guts.

The irony of democracy.

In today's world 'democracy' is the biggest irony perpetrated on 'we, the people'. East Germany was known as the German Democratic Republic, which was a communist dictatorship, kept in power by the dreaded secret police, the Stasi. Robert Mugabe has been elected continously since 1980 which surely makes him the most democratic leader in the world today. He is great friends with Kim Jon-un, despite the difference in age. Mugabe won a landslide victory in general elections in 2013, showing that he still has support in the country. Western countries instigate 'regime change' in countries ruled by dictators but will resist any change of a democratic government unless through legitimate elections. South Africa could protect the people of Zimbabwe from economic collapse by asking Mugabe to step down but will not do so because he has been elected democratically. President Obama condemned a military coup in Honduras in 2009, precipitated by the president trying to cling on to power by amending the constitution. " It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections," said Obama. Recently, Hillary Clinton, who is the Democrat Party candidate for president in November's election, said that although it was a coup in Honduras it was not a military coup. Back in 2002, when the military imprisoned Hugo Chavez of Venezuela the Bush adminstration refused to call it a coup. It is another matter that the socialist policies of Chavez have reduced Venezuela's economy to near collapse so that its citizens are crossing into Colombia to buy food and medicines. An armed coup by extreme right Svoboda and Right Sector groups, supported by the west, forced the elected president, Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country but instead of levying sanctions on the unelected government in Kiev western countries applied sanctions on Russia which supported the democratically elected government of Ukraine. Couple of days back there was a badly organized army coup in Turkey. Obama was quick to condemn the coup and support the 'democratically elected' government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, never mind that he is an Islamist thug, who supports terrorist groups in Syria and broke a peace deal with the Kurds, the only group fighting ISIS on the ground, to win elections last year. Turkey is apparently holding 1,500 US soldiers inside Incirlik Air Base as hostage to force the US to extradite Erdogan's enemy, Fethulah Gulen, who is in exile in Pennsylvania. Ironically, Erdogan defeated the coup attempt by calling for democracy over social media. Thugs, liars, assorted low lifes, are all accepted as long they have won elections. Only we, the people are the mugs. That is the irony.

Should we not have an expert to manage our money?

We have written about this many many times. Politicians in India, from every party, have one conviction, encased in concrete, which is low inflation stimulates economic growth. Apparently, high inflation does not matter in emerging economies so if growth can somehow be accelerated it will increase tax collection, which will allow politicians to buy votes with more handouts. We would like to ask one question," Would any prime minister appoint an economist or an accountant as the Attorney General?" If not, why is every Finance Minister a lawyer? Do we not have any competent economist, financier or accountant to do the job? It maybe that an expert will have his own opinion on the best course for the economy, maybe honorable and refuse to follow the same imbecile policies as politicians have been repeatedly asking for, making us suffer. It is no surprise that former Governor of the Reserve Bank, D Subbarao has published his autobiography in which he confirms what we have been writing for so long, and that is that Chidambaram tried to pressure him to reduce interest rate, when he did not want to. We would suggest that Chidambaram succeeded because retail inflation was out of control from 2008 to 2013 when Subbarao was the governor. The interest rate was 7% in 2008 but he brought it down sharply in 2009 to 4.25%, probably helping the Congress to win re-election. The average inflation rates were 8.32% in 2008, 10.83% iin 2009, 12.11% in 2010, 8.87% in 2011, 9.30% in 2012 and 10.92% in 2013, when Raghuram Rajan came in and increased rates to 8% and inflation fell to 6.37% in 2014. In August 2013, the rupee fell to 69 to the dollar, so that Rajan had to increase returns on NRI deposits in banks to attract $28 billion to stabilise the currency. Subbarao says that he held rates steady even under pressure from Chidambaram. " There is a price to pay, of course, for not falling in line. The government has several ways of showing its displeasure, and the way they chose to do so with me was by going against my recommendations in the reappointment of deputy governors in the bank," writes Subbarao. It is exemplified by the churlish manner in which the present government has dealt with the extension of Raghuram Rajan's contract. The Finance Minister asked recently why people should get a high interest on their term deposits in banks. He has no compunction about making us poorer through negative real interest rates, because everything is provided for him by the taxpayer. Politicians better watch out. Power is controlled by the Hindi states because they have the most members in the parliament. Hindi states get most of the money from the budget which is causing resentment in the South. High taxes and inflation affect everyone, so they see this as punishment. An economist as finance minister, is that too much to ask for?

We want a long-term solution because we care.

' The road to hell is paved with good intentions ' or ' hell is full of good wishes or desires '. There are lots of people with good intentions, who work hard to help others, but are they really doing any good? To question, or doubt, the efficacy of their work will invite instant scorn and accusations of being selfish and heartless. A long article tries to make a case for diversifying policies for the poor. " A staggering 75% of rural households have monthly income of less than Rs 5,000 and around 38% of rural households are landless and dependent on manual casual labour as their main source of income," says the article. As per the last census 833 million people live in rural areas, so 75% of that is a staggering 633 million people, that is more than half the population of the whole of the African continent, or 27 countries combined. " The figures show that the multiple social protection programmes implemented by successive governments, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act and National Rural Livelihoods Mission, have been unable to reach the extreme poor." So, stop these useless waste of money? Good heavens, no. Instead the authors recommend " a productive asset such as livestock or supplies for petty trade, technical skills training, savings support, temporary cash or in-kind support to tide over immediate consumption needs and regular mentoring and coaching over 18-24 months..." A long list at a huge cost. A lot of people will be required to identify such people, give them training, supervise the distribution of "temporary cash", mentoring and coaching and all these mentors and coaches will presumably get nice fat salaries. We get the picture. Apparently, " the ministry of rural development has recently incorporated this evidence into the design of a newly proposed scheme, tentatively named the Grameen Swarozgar Yojana." Of course, they have. Politicians have to win elections and 633 million make a huge vote bank. Besides it does not cost the politicians anything because they are throwing taxpayer money. Inflation is an ever-present danger in India, as the figures for June show. Increased fiscal spending by the government will raise inflation, current account deficit will rise and the rupee will fall, as happened in 2013. We are not immune to the suffering of the poor but we have a right to know why 6 decades of handouts have not reduced their misery. When is India going to become a wealthy nation so that unproductive handouts come to an end? We are moved by tear-jerker articles but would politely like to know why people who have no food nevertheless have so many children. What is the economic benefit? Do they get greater subsidies depending on the number of children or do they use them as collateral to borrow money from local lenders? Unless we have proper answers there can be no remedy. Sadly, there is too much money to be made from altruism so there is little interest in long-term solutions. Truth.

Will it be colonialism if we learn from the Brits?

Our politicians glibly justify ever rising taxes or another law restricting our liberties by pointing to western countries, guessing rightly that people will see such changes as beneficial because western countries are so wealthy. We hope that they have been watching the rapid smooth change in administration in Britain this week, especially since a lot of our laws, and the civil service, are a continuation of colonial British practices. This came about because in 2013 the former Prime Minister, David Cameron promised a referendum on continuing membership of the European Union, to unite the Conservative Party and to stop traditional Tory supporters from voting for the UK Independence Party, led by Nigel Farage, which wanted to exit the EU. Cameron's strategy was a great success in that he won an absolute majority in parliament, which meant that he was set for another 5 years as prime minister. However, he had promised a referendum, which was held on 23 June. Cameron campaigned strenuously for the Remain camp and was expected to win, but when the reult was declared the Leave camp had won. Here is where we want our polticians to pay particular attention to events as they unfolded after the result was declared. 1. David Cameron promptly resigned his post as Prime Minister, showing a sense of honor and pride. Our politicians cling on and on, as we grow tired of their ugly corrupt old faces tainting our televisions screens. Regardless of charges of serious crimes or scandalous behavior or after being booted out in elections they hang around completely shameless in their dishonor and may even beg their way into that dustbin of rejected politicians, the Rajya Sabha. 2. Five people stood for the leadership of the Conservative Party but within a week we have Theresa May as Prime Minister. As soon as her victory was confirmed Cameron met the Queen to resign his post and promptly moved out of 10 Downing Street, the official residence, with his family and May moved in. Unlike our lot who refuse to give up their official residences with excuses, whining and begging, their armor plated skins oblivious to the intense disgust of the people. 3. Theresa May has appointed her cabinet, consisting of 22 people. We have 78 ministers. Why? Just to please the toadies and bag-carriers at taxpayer expense? 4. Surprisingly, May has appointed Boris Johnson, who was expected to be the Prime Minister, before being stabbed in the back by his mate, Michael Gove, as Foreign Secretary. Perhaps a case of 'keep your enemies closer'. She has fired the powerful Notting Hill set but they will not go off to form a breakaway party, like our lot are prone to do. What do we do? A summary of events since 24 June should be shown to MPs when parliament meets at the start of the monsoon session. But will they learn? 

If there is no car people will take buses.

The price of oil has fallen from $115 per barrel in 2014 to around $46 per barrel today. Cheaper petrol prices has meant that demand for oil has grown by 12.6% in the first 6 months of this year in India, compared to 2015. If oil companies were hoping that India will make up the slack in demand from the rest of the world they are going to be disappointed. Our demand for oil is never going to catch up to that of China. We need 544,000 barrels of oil per day while China needs 2.8 million barrels. Why so much difference? Because our growth in oil consumption is driven by rising use of motorcycles. Last year 16.5 million motorbikes were sold in India, up from 11.8 million in 2010-11, compared to 24.6 million in China but, and here is the massive difference, 25 million cars were sold in China last year, compared to a tiny 3 million in India. In fact, car sales have fallen from 300,000 per month in 2010 to 215,000 per month today. Why? Because average Indian salary is $1,440 per annum, compared to $9,000 per annum in China. Aslo because since independence our politicians have defined India as a poor country and have been against car ownership. More than 20% of workers walk to work and less than 15% use public transport. Around 2.7% use cars or jeeps and 3% use either autorickshaw or taxis. Of the 4 metro cities, only 2.93% use a car to go to work in Kolkata, it is 4.78% in Mumbai and 6.14% in Chennai. Delhi comes first where 10.79% drive a car to work. Why so few people own cars in India? Because cars are expensive, about 5 times the average annual salary, cars use more petrol, roads are narrow and politicians are always looking for ways to penalise car owners. Thus, Delhi Chief Minister forced restrictions on car usage even though it showed no improvement in pollution levels. He is threatening to bring it back again in winter, maybe to increase earnings of autorickshaws. Some suggest introducing congestion charges on cars, as is the case in London. Others are suggesting increasing parking charges to astronomical levels. So how will people travel? There is the metro, but most people need some transport to get to a metro station. Besides trains are already overcrowded during peak hours. The government proposes to buy 25 electric buses but Delhi needs 10,000 more buses to provide a proper service. In last 5 years the Delhi Transport Corporation lost Rs 50 billion so we can imagine how much more it will lose with more buses. Some countries have over 600 cars per 1000 people, while India was said to have just 32 cars per 1000 people in 2015. If politicians do not want cars why is the government looking to spend so much on building highways? While a German company is designing a flying car by 2018 we are going back to bullock carts. If we are not allowed to own car stop manufacturing them. 

A pressure cooker ready to explode.

As expected, an international tribunal at the Hague has ruled decisively against China on its claim on the entire South China Sea. China has drawn 9 dashes on the map of the South China Sea, the so-called 9-dash line, just off the coasts of other countries bordering the sea and says that all the area inside that line belongs to it. It has been building artificial islands on reefs within the sea and has stationed armed vessels on those islands. Other countries bordering the sea also have claims on its waters. The former president of the Philippines, which brought the case to the tribunal, compared China's actions to those of Nazi Germany. The Tribunal also found that Chinese fishermen have seriously destroyed coral reefs and depleted the sea of fish and endengered species, like sea turtles and giant clams. Also as expected, China, a nation of uncivilised barbarians, has reacted by threatening and snarling at its neighbors. What happens now? Nothing in the short term. China will presumably continue to tighten its grip on the Sea. In the long term it depends on the economy. A government economist said that its total debt is more than double its GDP, at $28 trillion by the middle of 2014. Companies have borrowed heavily from banks and since the government owns the banks any problem will quickly become systemic. Assets controlled by shadow banks amount to 80% of the GDP, which are now lending to commercial banks. Total US debt is over $19 trillion. Around $5 trillion worth of shipping passes through the sea every year so we shall see if China decides to levy taxes on ships passing through if there is a sudden deterioration of its finances. The IMF has warned China of the risk of its corporate debt. With global growth remaining tepid China cannot export its way out of the problem. The government is doing everything to stimulate the economy by focusing heavily on innovation. The government is encouraging the creation and manufacture of robots but like all its efforts this has also turned into an investment bubble. Its drive for innovation has turned into another property bubble. Innovation takes time and has to make allowances for failure. Local government officials cannot afford to fail so they must be showing investments in real estate as progress. The world is poised at a very interesting point. The UK has left the EU which could come under further economic strain. US jobs report predicts a rise in interest rate. China is not only depleting the South China Sea it is depleting other oceans as well. Those countries are poor and weak but may retaliate. How many wars is it going to fight? China harvests organs from innocent people accused of subversion and arrests anyone who protests. It is ready to explode and events far away may act as catalysts. We hope it is very soon.

Bonds have to be repaid, bank loans are for free.

Last month the Federal Reserve, in the US, published the result of a stress test on large banks. 31 out of 33 banks were cleared, 2 European banks failed. This exercise showed that the Fed is vigilant against a repeat of the Lehman Brothers fiasco in 2008 that almost resulted in a global financial meltdown. A similar exercise by the Reserve Bank in India showed that gross Non Performing Assets, as bad loans are called, have grown from 5.1% to 7.6%, and could rise to 9.3% by March 2017, even as high as 11% in public sector banks. Since 2010 the government has handed Rs 677 billion to public sector banks and has promised another Rs 700 billion to recapitalize them. The RBI does not identify the banks with the highest bad loans for fear of a run on the banks, which will create and emergency for the government because these banks are government owned. Not just banks. The Comptroller and Auditor General calculated that 157 public sector companies have cumulative loans of Rs 1.1 trillion and of these 64 companies have a net worth of zero. Whose money is being wasted on these useless companies? Taxpayer money, of course. Whereas the US government made handsome profits from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, when it loaned $700 billion to troubled banks the hapless Indian taxpayer is always a loser. Who gains from the government largesse? The obscenely rich fellows, known as poromoters, who have borrowed from the banks. These fellows do not have to provide any personal guarantee for the loans they take, which was the biggest mistake of Vijay Mallya, whose debt is minuscule compared to some others, and keep a low profile or are friendly with politicians. Promoters reduce their exposure to zero by borrowing against their shares. Distress sale of shares will see a collapse in their values and taking over a business with negative net worth will yield nothing. So, the crooks win and we are the losers. Recapitalizing banks and keeping sick public sector companies alive with taxpayer money just keeps the sore festering. What is the long term solution? Privatise. Public sector companies may not have any net worth but they have large tracts of extremely valuable land, which will yield vast sums of money, and by saving on bank losses the government can spend on infrastructure projects which will lead to jobs and growth. Restructuring will be opposed by vested interests who are making vast sums of money by milking the state. The other option is to ask promoters to borrow directly from the public by selling corporate bonds. Companies used sell bonds about 20 years back, paying interest on how they were rated by rating agencies. If a company defaults on bonds its share value will collapse and it will fail. Better to borrow from the taxpayer, which need not be refunded. Cute, what? 

Nothing succeeds like enjoyment.

Our Finance Minister said yesterday," Recent reports have indicated that there is a sizable dip in Indian holdings outside the country." He meant black money. Hallelujah. The Finance Minister has also promised that no questions will be asked of those who voluntarily declare black money and pay tax on that. That indeed is generous of him. But what about politicians? Of the 19 new ministers sworn into government 7 have serious criminal charges against them, such as attempted murder, communal rioting, bribery and possession of deadly weapons. The standard response of politicians is that these charges are politically motivated, made by opponents to gain electoral advantage. Why not pass a law that any politician making charges, proven to be false on investigation, will have to pay heavy penalties? Because charges against politcians can never be proven, because they control the police, so those making charges will always be penalised, which they will decry as politically motivated. Of the 78 ministers in the cabinet 24 have declared serious criminal charges against themselves. Why do we need a huge mob of 78 in India, which is a $2 trillion economy, while the US, which is a $16 trillion economy, has a Vice President, 15 cabinet secretaries and 7 other posts of cabinet rank, making 23 in all? Apart from occupying huge bungalows in Lutyens Delhi, having brainstorming sessions in 5 star hotels and going on frequent foreign tours, to make India great again, what exactly do these people do? How do they pass their time? It must be very hard to create endless enjoyment at taxpayer expense. What sacrifice. If all these people fail to improve the economy then the Congress, which has ruled India in 55 out of 68 years since independence, is waiting in the wings to take over. We are waiting with breathless anticipation to know whether Ms Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of Congress President, Sonia Gandhi, sister of Congress Vice President, Rahul Gandhi, and wife of the famous magician, Robert Vadra, who is reputed to make millions out of nothing, will be joining the fray. The Family has a tried and tested method of winning elections - dole out subsidies. Subsidies have amounted to 9.2% of GDP, that is Rs 6.90 trillion, when The Family was in power, compared to 5.3% of GDP, which was Rs 1.83 trillion, when others formed the government. Naturally, expense grew by 9.1% during The Family rule, compared to 5.6% when it was not in power. That increased government debt, led to inflation and increased poverty. " All political lives end in failure," David Cameron is reputed to have said after losing  the Brexit vote. Indian politicians never fail. Because they are here to enjoy. So they never go.

If cows are fed pizzas will we pay less tax?

Assaults on the middle class in India is relentless. Kerala imposed a 14.5% on pizzas and burgers. What is the reasoning? A study showed that there are more fat students in private schools compared to government ones in Kerala, middle class children go to private schools, middle class people tend to eat in restaurants, and junk food has been blamed for obesity in western countries. Ergo put a tax on junk food, pretending to protect the health of children and the government earns an extra Rs 100 million. After all, politicians have to travel to cooler climes in Europe or the US, for study, and civil servants have to be paid humongous increases in salaries as prescribed by the Seventh Pay Commission, to rule us. Never mind that studies show a higher incidence of obesity in poorer people in western countries and sugar has been blamed the most so that Britain has levied a tax on sugar. Sugar is as addictive as drugs, as Mexico has discovered, where consumption of sugary drinks are rising again after a 10% tax was imposed 2 years ago. The Kerala government has not bothered to study whether better vaccination against childhood illnesses or lack of exercise, because of middle class obsession with marks, is responsible for overweight children. Just bash the people, they cannot do anything for the next 5 years anyway. Haryana government has proposed taxes on marriages, cinemas and even foodgrains to pay for looking after cows. Why? Once cows are old and stop producing milk the owners let them out on the streets. These people should pay, as well as those who strongly believe in not eating beef. This tax will only allow the western media to mock Hindus. Then there is the constant assault on cars, because cars are owned by the middle class while the poor drive mopeds. The automobile industry constitutes 10% of GDP, generates $145 billion and employs 25 million people. There was the odd-even assault in Delhi when people were being fined Rs 2,000 if they drove on the wrong days by mistake although repeated studies showed no benefit. It did increase earnings of auto-rickshaw drivers, who are ardent supporters of the chief minister. Speed-breakers outside schools definitely increase pollution, but they are not being removed. The government has suddenly woken up to the noise pollution caused by honking and is thinking of imposing heavy penalties. Why do people honk? Because there is no policeman to control traffic, people drive wrong and potholes cause accidents. People on two-wheelers do not look where they are going, while zigzagging though traffic. Car drivers are always blamed for any accident so they honk to warn dangerous drivers. A newspaper has decided to join the bandwagon without any analysis. Not a word on banning loud speakers which produce much more noise and are of no use. Potholes kill over 11,000 people every year. Repairing roads and traffic control cost money, fines and taxes result in greater enjoyment. Journalists probably get a share. Bharat Mata ki jai.

Is it all because of mobile phones?

In 1991, a taxi driver, Rodney King III was severely beaten up with batons by 4 Los Angeles Police officers. In 1992, all 4 officers were found not guilty of charges of using excessive force, which resulted in riots in Los Angeles for days, 55 people were killed in the riots, 2000 were injured. Eventually 2 officers were found guilty of violating civil rights and 2 were acquitted. Even that would not have happened if the beating had not been recorded on video by an onlooker from a balcony. Today everyone has cell phones with built in cameras so police brutality is being revealed regularly. In Baton Rouge a shopkeeper who filmed the killing of his friend, Alton Sterling, hid his phone from the police because he thought they would destroy evidence. He was questioned for hours by the police, first in a police car and then at the police station till 3AM. Why? Were they trying to frighten him into changing his story? In another killing the girl friend of Phillando Castile started broadcasting live on Facebook immediately after the shooting. She was handcuffed, separated from her daughter and not given food or water. We in India have not forgotten the near torture of Krittika Biswas, a teenager, by New York Police, without bothering for any proof, the vicious assault on a grandfather, out for a stroll, or the sexual assault on Devyani Khobragade, who was set up by a racist woman at the US Embassy in New Delhi. Police are human and liable to make mistakes, like anybody else, but their inhuman treatment of witnesses and their total immunity from any punishment make people angry. This anger exploded in Dallas yesterday when an army veteran shot dead 5 police officers, 7 others were wounded. The shooter was later killed by a robot controlled bomb. Sounds like official terrorism, does it not? The deadly attack on police was rightly condemned by politicians, including Obama. We do not know if this is the beginning of a racial war but more such killings are bound to happen as the US is awash with guns. The National Rifle Association actually has the audacity to rate politicians on their support for guns, like credit rating agencies rate businesses. Bernie Sanders has a D- rating. The NRA recommends that," The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun." So, why did the good guys with guns die in Dallas? A black professor writes of the fear, anger and hopelessness of blacks while a white former Congressman threatens blacks with vengeance," This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you." So which America is real? A white policeman with a gun or a black person with a mobile phone? The result can only be tears.

If it was just, can there be any justice?

The Chilcot report on Britain's involvement in the Iraq war has been published having taken 7 years and cost 10 million pounds. Superficially, it seems to be a damning indictment of the then Prime Minister of Britain, Tony Blair. The report says that there was no proof that Saddam Hussein had any weapons of mass destruction, the intelligence was faulty and Blair chose what bits of intelligence to present. There was no legal justification for war and Blair ignored warnings of unleashing terrorism in Iraq if Saddam was removed. British and American eagerness to go to war is probably based on the hypothesis of a 'Just War'. However, it is difficult to understand how killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in a country far away can be morally justified as self defence. It is more probable that victory in the 2 world wars and the enormous superiority in firepower, especially from the air, give the US and the UK a gung-ho attitude to war. Even now Tony Blair is being blamed for the death of just 179 British army personnel killed in the war and not the 150,000 Iraqi civilians slaughtered unnecessarily. At 6,275 pages and 2.6 million words is the Chilcot report an attempt at covering up Blair's crimes in a flood of verbosity? The report does not mention the UN Arms Inspector, Hans Blix who repeatedly warned that Saddam did not have any WMD, and now says that Blair considered himself a "global sheriff", whose mission was to rid the world of evil dictators, so he resorted to "spinning", which means lying, Britain into war. However, Hans Blix is mentioned by Tony Blair in letters to Bush, where he says that they would have to "trick" people into supporting the war. What was this absolute intelligence that justified killing 150,000 people? A chemical engineer from Iraq, code name 'Curveball', convinced the CIA with drawings of fictitious WMDs, while British intelligence was convinced by stories of glass balls from the Hollywood movie, The Rock. It gets better. Two psychologists were paid $81 million to torture prisoners with beatings, sleep deprivation and water boarding, to extract confessions. Even now Blair shows no remorse, insisting that he did the right thing by removing an evil dictator and he would do it again. It has not occurred to him that he maybe a bigger evil than Saddam, as innocent people continue to die in Iraq. Why are the British and Americans allowed to write there own version of history? Because we in Asia are divided. Those who come to power through the deaths of their fellow citizens remain silent, which allows the aggressors to write history as they choose. Thus silence of Indian politicians has allowed the British to portray Churchill as a hero when he was responsible for the deaths of 3 million Indians. Of half a million children killed in Iraq, Madeleine Albright said," I think this is a hard choice but the price, we think is worth it." Her ancestors were Jews. 

Why do lawyers run our economy? Are they hiding evidence?

The Indian economy grew at 7.6% in 2015-16 because of higher farm ouput, electricity generation and mining production. The severe El Nino last year does not seem to have impacted farm output and hydroelectric power production. A report from the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs of the State Department in the US says," Ostensibly, India is one of the fastest growing countries in the world, but this depressed investor sentiment suggests approximately 7.5% growth rate may be overstated." " There are few quick fixes to the structural impediments, poor regulatory environment, tax and policy uncertainty, infrastructure bottle necks, localization requirements, restrictions in many services sectors, and massive shortage of electricity that hinders India's economic growth potential," says the report. Obviously the State Department is looking to help US businesses so it wants an open economy without localization requirements or restrictions in services sectors but some of its observations make sense, such as structural impediments, which means reform the civil service, and refraining from frequent changes in rules and tax rates, so that businesses can plan their investments for medium to long term. We do not need to build more power plants for the next 3 years as our electricity generation is sufficient and highway construction reached a record 28 km per day in June. The US report does not state what our politicians of all hues consider the most vital elixir for economic growth, and that is low interest rates. That is it. They would love an interest rate of near zero, as in the US, UK, Europe and Japan, never mind that retail inflation jumped in April to 5.39%, that there is a huge rise in real estate prices, which may collapse, and that near zero rates in the developed economies have not worked. With Rajan having resigned the government wants the RBI to target a higher inflation rate so that it can spend more to increase growth. Low interest rate helps the government to borrow at lower cost but increased expenditure will increase fiscal deficit and increase inflation. Economists argue that our inflation is contained because of low oil price so we should keep our spending low at present so that it can be increased if high commodity prices result in global recession, which seems likely. Anyway, if the economy is already growing at 7.6% what is the need for a stimulus? The previous governor of the RBI has belatedly realised that inflation is very hard on the poor but politicians are not listening. They have not learnt anything from the Congress experiment when the government forced the RBI to lower interest rate, resulting in double digit inflation and a rout in 2014. Maybe that is why all finance ministers in India are lawyers and not economists. They can defend the murder of the economy.

It maybe defective but it is no worse.

Historian, Ramachandra Guha writes about a book on democracy written by a British lawyer, Anthony Lester. The book is relevant to us in India because we follow a 'Westminster model' of government, a legacy of 200 years of British brutality. So what are the lessons from the book? 1. Democratic progress is slow and halting. Or it may reverse as it did when Indira Gandhi declared Emergency on 25 June 1975 to hang on to power, after having been disqualified by a court. This dark period was to last till 21 March 1977. 2. Civil servants are more dangerous than politicians because they know the minute details of how government functions, protect their powers through a secret brotherhood of cadres and are an almost unbreakable wall against any reforms because that may reduce their privileges. Politicians frequently talk about inducting professionals directly into the bureaucracy but are frightened out of it by the bureaucratic mafia. No wonder it has been voted the worst in Asia. 3. An independent judiciary is crucial. Absolutely. But 4. the judiciary must not be radical and try to make laws, which is a function of the parliament. At present judges to the higher courts are chosen in secret by a 'collegium' of judges without any input from citizens. The government wants to be involved in the selection of judges but the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill was rejected by the Supreme Court, so now appointment of new judges has come to a complete standstill. Citizens suffer as cases pile up for years so that people are denied justice. Judges cannot be sacked for any reason but maybe removed only by two-thirds majority in parliament, which makes them akin to the civil service. They are so powerful that an unintentional insult to a reitred judge incurred a fine of Rs 1 billion. Trouble is that in the absence of any accountability of politicians and civil servants people have to approach courts for redress, politicians file frivolous cases against each other and business fellows take out injunctions on legitimate tax demands. If the government is seen as predatory people will go to court. 5. Repressive laws inherited from the British have to be repealed. The article does not mention the unlimited power of politicians in India and, what is worse, their refusal to go. David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the Coservative Party after losing the referendum on membership of the European Union and Nigel Farage resigned as leader of the UK Independence Party, because he has achieved his ambition of Brexit but did Sonia or Rahul Gandhi resign their positions after being humiliated in the 2014 general election? " Lester is scathing about the deficiencies of British democracy; but in fact their democracy is far less imperfect than our country," says the article. Not true. Democracy does not end at the country's borders. Acting as US mercenaries in illegal attacks on Iraq and Libya is not democracy. India is no worse than Britain.

No one said life is easy. Especially in India.

A survey conducted by a newspaper revealed that 82% of taxpayers have never cheated on paying taxes, while 13.6% have cheated just once or twice. 85.4% will report and pay tax on interest from fixed deposit, if tax had not been deducted by the bank, but 58% of people will not pay taxes if they can get away with it. That is astonishingly honest because 19.7% think that tax laws favor the rich and 53.7% think that they favor dishonest people, making 73.4% of taxpayers who feel that the laws are unjust. It maybe that people do not follow business news because they would realise that the government may have to write off Rs 7 trillion in corporate taxes. Although this figure covers disputes over several years it is still huge because the entire direct tax collection for the last financial year was Rs 7.48 trillion, which includes income tax, wealth tax on individuals, capital gains tax and corporate tax. Clearly, rich fellows are getting away with not paying their fair share. A large number are paying because of fear of tax officers, with their unlimited power to assault and harass citizens. This is like Delhi Chief Mininster, Kejriwal claiming huge support for his perverse odd-even policy because people stayed at home for fear of fines of Rs 2,000. One of the greatest desires of all Indian politicians is to widen the tax base, which means get more people to pay income tax. Why? Because only 4% of all Indians file tax returns and only 1% actually pay any tax. More than half, 54%, of those who filed tax returns did not earn enough to pay any tax. Why? Because there are too many people competing for jobs which brings down their bargaining power. Comparing with other countries is of little use. In China personal tax rate goes up to 45% but taxes start after 3,500 renminbi per month, which converts to about Rs 35,000 per month, or Rs 420,000 per year. Whereas in India we are allowed Rs 250,000 per year, which converts to $3706 per year, or about $10 per day. That maybe 5 times the World Bank's absolute penury level of $2 per day but it is nowhere enough for a man to pay rent, feed his family and pay school fees for one child. As for Scandinavian countries we cannot compare at all because the govenrment provides for free education, healthcare, pension and old age care for every citizen, whereas in India taxpayers get nothing in return for the taxes they pay, whereas those who do not pay any taxes can get free education in private schools, almost free food and free healthcare in private hospitals, because they have Below Poverty Line cards. Trouble is there is a lot of similarity between Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Modi. Both are bachelors and both have not worked to support a family. Modi went into politics from selling tea while Rahul Gandhi owns the Reserve Bank. No wonder all US Presidents have been married. On the other hand not having criminal children is good for us. Can't have everything, can we?

Use your power, use your pens as swords.

Journalism is a dangerous profession in India. India is ranked 133 out of 180 in the index of press freedom, 39 journalists have been killed since 1992, in 96% of cases the killers went free and in 4% there was partial justice and politics was the most dangerous field to report on, followed by crime. That is not surprising because criminals have the required illicit cash to bribe and the thugs to intimidate voters, to win elections. In India there is no system of primaries, as in the US, to select which candidate will stand for election but a system of 'tickets' decided by party high command. Thus, political parties deliberately pick criminals as candidates, because they have the money and muscle power to win. For criminals being a politician offers safety from the police, so politics and crime are intimately entwined in India. The previous prime minister insists he is honest because he did not gain from all the corruption in his government. Even when all the crime was revealed he did not have the decency to resign his post. He says that "history will be kinder" to him, which shows that he has absolutely no sense of honor. Not just physical violence, politicians use various statutes of the constitution to harass and intimidate journalists. In the world map of press freedom India is just above China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, not an achievement to boast about. Even though newspaper sales are declining in the rest of the world, with the rise of digital news, sales in India are booming, although most people have televisions in their homes today. Being such a vital service one would have expected enormous public support for journalists but that does not seem to be the case. Perhaps, there is a perception that the media is biased against certain political parties and certain communities. While there was a very high decibel witch-hunt for weeks over an alleged killing of a man who had allegedly slaughtered a cow, there is no reaction at all to the call to kill IAS and IPS officers by an Al Qaeda operative in India. Nor to the financial help provided to Islamic State militants by a member of parliament, who no doubt took the oath to protect the sanctity of India. Not just journalists, activists exposing crimes under the Right to Information Act are attacked and many have been killed. However, the biggest protection for criminals in India is our justice system which takes forever to pronounce a verdict. While ordinary people lose precious time and money criminals are free on bail to continue their with their luxurious lives. If journalists want to practise their profession in safety they must make common cause with the people. They have the unique power to mount a campaign for justice and punishing the wicked. Continue to write until it happens.

If only we knew who is bluffing whom.

A report by 'experts', which means anybody from the west, has found that China executes 60-100,000 prisoners every year, whose organs are then harvested for transplants.  Since 2000, 1.5 million people had their organs removed at 712 centers for liver and kidney transplant and there have been 300,000 in unregulated centers. Surgeons have been removing up to 6 livers everyday. Most of the prisoners are apparently members of the Falun Gong, who practise a weird dance like meditation. How it differs from the usual Chinese exercise routines, and why adopting strange postures is considered so dangerous by the Communist Party is a mystery. However, we are ready to believe this 'report' because we know that the Chinese are an uncivilised, barbaric nation who eat every living thing. If the report had claimed that after removing the organs the meat of the prisoners is then cooked and served in high-end restaurants we would be ready to believe it. But what about the US? Do we believe when Obama says that drone strikes have killed up to 116 civilians? Isn't that cute? The attitude is,"Although we do not believe that we hurt so many we are ready to own up to 116 because we are such good chaps. It is for their own good anyway." It is much more likely that indiscriminate drone strikes have killed thousands and Obama is getting away with blatant lies because no one is going to travel to these areas to verify the figures for fear of getting kidnapped or killed. Americans like to kill. There were 93 additional deaths from guns in 72 hours, not including those killed in the Orlando massacre, which happened within that period. Turkey claimed that in 2015 it had warned about one of those who attacked Brussels airport in March but when Istanbul airport was attacked a few days back it did not seem to have a clue. Erdogan paints these attacks as terrorism by either ISIS or the Kurds but the truth is that he is directly responsible for these attacks. In June 2015, HDP, a Kurdish party won 81 seats in parliament which stopped Erdogan from changing the constitution so that power would be transferred from the prime minister to him, as president. To get the Kurds out of parliament he unlaterally broke the 2013 peace treaty with Kurds and started bombing Kurdish areas. Naturally the Kurds retaliated with bomb attacks of their own. Turkey is also bombing Kurdish fighters in Syria, which helps the ISIS to enter into Turkey. On the other hand Nato planes are bombing ISIS from a base in Turkey. Meanwhile, the US claims that its missile defence shield is against Iran, with which it has signed a nuclear deal. Naturally, Russia is not buying it. Politicians like to play games. Are we supposed to trust them?

If the old is not working should we not try something new?

" Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union is already threatening to unravel a democratic bloc of nations that has coexisted peacefully together for decades. But it is also generating uncertainty about an even bigger issue: Is the post-1945 order imposed on the world by the United States and its allies unraveling, too?" laments the left wing New York Times. "Imposed" is the most important word in the paragraph, and imposed it was most brutally at times. With napalm, dioxin, white phosphorus, depleted uranium, cluster bombs and land mines on any nation that dared to challenge the hegemony of the west. They were even prepared to use nuclear weapons on the Middle East to prevent the Soviet Union from capturing its oil wells. It is impossible to understand why Indians are mourning the possible break-up of the European Union, calling it "ultra-nationalism and racist-xenophobia". We have suffered from the previous world order in which one Democrat President imposed sanctions on India for our nuclear tests while another Democrat President has been supplying the latest sophisticated weapons to Pakistan, despite repeated terrorist attacks on us. Democrats are supposed to be liberals, and Hillary Clinton, linked to both those presidents, is running for the White House. Brexit is perhaps the best thihng that could happen for India. So is the US the last remaining bastion of liberalism left standing? Maybe, but here too areas which were a solid base for the Democrat Party have turned Republican as jobs in coal and steel have disappeared due to globalisation. Both socialist Bernie Sanders and right wing Donald Trump campaigned on the basis of renegotiating trade deals. China and Vietnam have benefited from free trade because they erected barriers whereas Mexico has not done as well by relying on free trade alone, writes a professor. A British journalist calls globalisation a giant con trick. Citizens of poorer countries, even China, see themselves as 'global citizens', which probably means a desire to migrate to the west, while people of western countries are much more reluctant to label themselves as such. Apparently, around 20% of people in the western world are supporting fringe parties but the majority would like to stick to the status quo. Well Brexit has put an end to that. Now there are calls for 34 separate referendums in Europe. Trying to protect their jobs and standard of living, when the rich are benefiting from monetary policies of central banks, is not xenophobia. If politicians fail to recognise that it may lead to another war even as they remember the fallen, at the battle of the Somme. This time the outcome could be worse.