A panel of “experts” appointed by the Government has recommended raising fuel prices.  The panel, headed by Kirit Parikh,  recommended a hike in domestic LPG by Rs 100 a cylinder and PDS Kerosene by Rs 6 a litre. It is not certain that what the panel called for will be implemented. Rangarajan Committee and the Chaturvedi Committee reports… Continue reading

The Ministry of Home affairs, Government of India, is on the way to amend the Arms and ammunitions policy. The document issued by MHA says “Proliferation of arms and ammunition in the country disrupt the social order and development.” How true is it? As in many other issues, the conventional wisdom could be wrong. India has very strict gun… Continue reading

Our country India has a long history of Socialistic policies. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister India, and an admirer of Stalin, modeled the nation on the brutal slaughterhouse of Soviet Union-In the name of intelligent planning. It didn’t occur to him that planning of a central authority tampers with the plans of individual citizens. Rulers who came after him weren’t any better . It is true that things have improved slightly in the past few decades as of economic reforms, but the essentials remain the same. The concept of individual liberty is unknown to most Indian citizens. Continue reading

How Anarchy Would Work
Insurance companies would either sell defense or maintain proximity with Defense Companies. If we both are customers of Reliance Defense Company, and a dispute between us occurs, the dispute would be submitted to the court of Reliance Defense company, or a court patronized by Reliance Defense Company. The decision of the court would be respected. If you are found guilty, the Reliance Defense Company, or its Insurance Company would compensate me for the damages done by you. It will be then the task of Reliance Defense Company to get back their money by putting you in a debtor workhouse (prison) or by garnishing your wages. I, the Defense Company, and the Insurance Company would be in a position of inconvenience due to the damages caused by you. Continue reading

Even in the modern day India, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru are considered as “Gods”. Any attempt to criticize them is met by denial and hatred. I remember that years back, when I made a case against the socialist policies of Nehru in my college hostel, every one of them present there turned emotional. They argued that India is a poor country, and hence need intelligent planning, to which Nehru made significant contributions. Their response was similar to what you would get from sulky children when you point out that their parents could be wrong. “Breaking Free of Nehru”, by Sanjeev Sabhlok, a resigned IAS officer, flies in the face of such an attitude. Sabhlok is one of the very few Indian authors I have read who has a reasonably good understanding of Free Market Economics. He points out with extreme clarity and precision that the legacy of Nehruvian Socialism has done incalculable harm to India. Continue reading

Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, was often considered as one of the most powerful men on earth. What is interesting about Alan is that he was once an acolyte of the novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand, and a proponent of the Gold Standard. It is indeed an irony that he later renounced his views on Gold Standard and headed the very institution he attacked – The Federal Reserve.
As advocates of a free market economy know, it is a characteristic of the enemies of capitalism that they blame the evils of interventionism on the free market. It is, they say, the “laissez faire” policies of Alan Greenspan, which caused the present economic crisis. They conveniently forget that Greenspan gave up his views on Capitalism long ago. It is also forgotten that the existence of the Federal Reserve is incompatible with a free market economy. How is Government manipulation of money and credit a free market policy? Isn’t it a form of central planning? Isn’t it ridiculous to blame the present mess on Capitalism when Capitalism never existed in the first place?
There is one thing in common between those who blame Capitalism for the present crisis. It is that they are totally ignorant of Economics, and yet hold strong opinions on the topic. Continue reading

Education is a valuable tool required for survival of which the formal education forms a very small part. There isn’t anything special about education which makes it a birth right. Yet, I have found that a lot many libertarians make exceptions for education. Inspired by economists like Milton Friedman, they support programs such as “School Choice”. It… Continue reading

Women are usually considered an oppressed, dominated group. They are usually thought of as inferior to men. Even the great philosopher Aristotle held that men are superior to women. Nathaniel Branden in his article once accused that “Ayn Rand once wrote that no woman should aspire to be the President of United States as it would make her superior to all men”… Continue reading

We all are capable of having emotions. Emotions give us much valuable information about ourselves and how we perceive the world. Wrong emotions are usually the result of wrong ideas held by a person. Consider a person who admires a “successful bureaucrat”. I seriously doubt whether he would have the same emotions towards that bureaucrat if he has learned Free Market economics… Continue reading

“All property is theft”, said Proudhon. The very statement contradicts itself. An act could be called theft only if it involves taking the property of another which is legitimately owned. If no one legitimately owns any property, then how could it be termed as theft? If one could extort a grain of truth out of Proudhon’s statement, it would be that property was largely acquired through wrong means in the past. In India, in most cases land was forcefully appropriated by kings and distributed to Zamindars for the ease of tax collection. The Zamindars have no just claim to the land they acquired in this manner. There were cases of feudalism and slavery in the past. Continue reading