More Travel Plans

I should have posted multiple entries about my vacation in Singapore and Australia, but somehow didn't. I hope I can do so sometime.

Meanwhile, I have been busy thinking up new plans :)

In March, I shall go to Corbett NP with my college friends. There's a 4-day weekend coming up, and I should be able to go there without needing leave from work. Should be fun!

Less certainly, I hope to visit Europe in July. Consulted the list of cities I wanted to visit, but seems that I won't be able to check any more from that list this year. That's because I am thinking of visiting Norway for a week, along with a weekend sojourn in London. A week in Norway should be fun - Oslo, the famous fjords and other wilderness to explore, I hope. And I'll try to see Midsummer Night's dream in London, if possible.

There's plenty of time to go, but I'm already excited, about both trips!

Choices without a Vote

Like everyone else on this planet who has the slightest interest in politics, I too have an opinion about the US presidential elections.

8 years ago, I preferred George Bush to Gore, mainly because I thought that the latter was untrustworthy (if I recall correctly, he had been quoted as saying, "I invented the Internet."). How much would have I now given for a Gore presidency! The disinclination towards Gore continued in 2004, when I hoped that John Edwards would capture the Democratic nomination (Of course, I then preferred anyone to Bush).

Now, America is in midst of another presidential election process. John Edwards is campaigning again, but there are many better candidates on offer, I think.

There's Obama, the charming senator from Illinois. I've never really heard him on TV actually, so don't have an intuitive reaction to him. But from whatever I've read in newspapers and magazines, he is a moderate who will undo atleast some of the bitter divisiveness fostered by the Bush administration within the US and improve America's image in the world. He's an unknown quantity though, and in 2000, I had similar expectations of Bush.

There's Clinton, the NY senator. I don't really like her, and think that she's phony, in the sense of sounding like she's entitled to the job, and so very obviously qualified for it. I can easily imagine her being holier-than-thou in her speeches if she becomes president. In short, I think that she will hardly be the reconciling figure that is needed. Nevertheless, she has experience of being in a place of high power, and among the Democrats, she has the sharpest grasp of specific issues and has come out with the most detailed policy plans.

Finally, on the Republican side, there's McCain, the senator from Arizona. If elected, he would be the oldest US President ever, I read somewhere. He was a prisoner-of-war for 5 years during the Vietnam War. He is a Republican, but socially quite liberal, supporting gay marriage (I think), immigration and abortion. He is a fiscal conservative. He's likely to be hawkish in foreign policy, and I can easily imagine him using US military might aggressively (though not bungling a campaign as badly as Bush did in Iraq). Not very sure about his stance on environmental and trade-related issues, but overall he is someone whom I consider sincere, straight-talking and amenable to reason. If I had a vote, it would go to John McCain.

SEZs - equality and property rights

A tussle is on between the Centre and the state government of Goa over the issue of SEZs in the state. I have little to say about the specifics of this issue, except to sigh and note that the decision of the Goan government is probably on account of political considerations and lobbying rather than economics and principles.

I do have a view about the SEZ controversy in general though. As I have often expressed both in this blog and elsewhere, I am a free market enthusiast and a political liberal. And precisely because I am so, I do not agree with the policy on SEZs.

I do not agree with the concept of an SEZ. What is meant to be the point of creating special enclaves, where tax exemptions and labour law flexibility are the USP? I would rather have uniform tax laws throughout the territory of India, and as few exemptions as possible. After that, let the market mechanism direct the location of firms where they make most economic sense. SEZ will only reduce the revenues accruing to the government, and distort the market. I of course support the repeal of the restrictive, ossified labour laws in India, which inhibit job creation (since firms that fear facing difficulties in laying off people will not employ them in the first place). Selective impositions of these laws does not make much sense.

Property rights are the foundation of any market economy. When government comes to the aid of SEZ promoters to acquire land from farmers, I think it is unfairly intervening in private transactions. The only circumstance when intervention can be sometimes justified is when property is compulsorily acquired to develop a public good, i.e., something which will create a benefit to society, but cannot be profitably owned by a private party (like an untolled road). The SEZs will be privately owned, and benefit private owners. If they wish to acquire land for their SEZs, they should negogiate directly with the owners and persuade to sell their holdings. If they can't, too bad. I believe that the modified SEZ policy does indeed require governments to not assist in the process of land acquisition, and that is how it should be.

Am I missing something?