I prefer Left to Right

I can never ever imagine development 'trickling' down to the poor byt he policies followed by a government which is inclined towards the right.

Here is an article which shows the hypocrisy of the right policies. People enjoying meals at high quality restaurants near the largest slum in Asia.

Here a nice piece I read today on the Hindu editorial which conforms to my views:

Where Left differs from the Right

Where the Left does part ways with the Right is on the issue of public policies in general and on social policies in particular.

On the first, the key notion has been that, much as in today's world it is the private sector that drives the economic engine, the government plays a key role in devising tools to leverage the statutory powers of the state with the material resources and managerial capabilities of business. The provision of public infrastructure, a fundamental need in a huge continent such as Latin America, is a classic example.

The notion that the free market by itself will provide the highways, bridges, tunnels and airports that are needed is just as mistaken as the one that hopes against hope that the public sector will come up with the enormous resources to pay for them, willy-nilly. Public-private partnerships are, of course, the answer here, something which India is actively pursuing, as we have seen recently with the adjudication of the bids to upgrade the Delhi and Mumbai airports but the same goes for other areas. Chile managed to generate $6 billion in private investment (mostly foreign) in public infrastructure from 1995 to 2003, and its highways and airports are today ranked among the best in the region.

On social inequalities the Right's standard approach has been "trickle down," that is, to allow economic growth per se to take care of the disadvantaged, on the theory that "a rising tide lifts all boats." And while there is little doubt that without growth there won't be much to distribute, the evidence shows than unless carefully calibrated social policies are also put in place, poverty and huge inequalities will persist. Once again the case of Chile, where poverty was almost halved, from 39 per cent of the population in 1990 to 18 per cent in a decade, is a good example of how the imaginative public policies implemented by a responsible Left have made much headway.

Yes, the Left has won quite a few elections, a majority of Latin Americans are now ruled by Left-led governments, and by leaders who are more representative of their peoples. But, far from being determined to turn the clock backwards towards the failed, statist economic policies of yesteryear, these leaders, by and large, are keen on applying new, imaginative solutions tailored to their country's specific needs, rather than the "one-size-fits-all" approach that has wrought such havoc in the region in the recent past.

Jorge Heine

(Jorge Heine is the Ambassador of Chile to India.)

You can read the complete Editorial by clicking here.