Wealth Creation
In India, we know all too well how to destroy wealth. Suppression of freedom, high taxes on economic activity by individuals and businesses, putting hurdles on education, taxing imports (which inevitably taxes exports), delayed justice, public sector units, not decentralising governance, random government interventions, discrimination based on caste, religion and group affiliations, and control of public wealth – these are just some of the facets of the anti-prosperity machine run by those in power. India’s politicians and bureaucrats have learnt nothing in the past 75 years from the successes of the nations that created wealth for their people; they have focused on wealth capture for themselves and their cronies.
As I said in my Manthan talk in July 2021: “The government runs schools, colleges, trains, planes, buses, hotels, mining companies, automobile companies, banks, insurance companies, and every conceivable commercial enterprise. It restricts what private firms can produce, dictates who may be employed and on what terms. The government regulates education, controls temples, and discriminates among citizens based on caste and religion. It restricts free speech, threatens sedition, controls what’s broadcast on radio, censors publications, bans books and movies. In short, the lives of people are planned and controlled by an extensive bureaucracy — just like it was done by the British. That is why India is not rich…The greatest barrier to Indians in India is the government. Not any particular government of this or that party but all governments and all parties. India’s real enemy is domestic — the mai-baap sarkar.”
From agriculture to manufacturing, from education to trade — every Indian sector needs freedom. Only then will the private sector be able to create quality jobs at scale; only via jobs and production of goods and services that people want will wealth creation take place. The one big idea to kickstart this is Dhan Vapasi, the monetisation and return of public wealth to the rightful owners, the people of India. As I said: “The total amount of public wealth is conservatively estimated to be around $20 trillion. That works out to be roughly Rs 50 lakhs per Indian family. From this, it is possible to return Rs 1 lakh per family every year. With money in the bank, people will get the purchasing power that will increase demand for goods and services. This increase in demand will push industries to create jobs at an unprecedented pace.”
As I have written previously, Dhan Vapasi is that program which can achieve the following:
- Put money in the hands of people without enlarging the fiscal deficit
- Get India to sustained 10% GDP growth rate
- Not entail any government borrowing which will impact future growth
- Attract global investors and their trillions of dollars
- Not cause inflation
- Be politically popular and financially wise
- Solve the credit constraint problem that many Indians face
- Give families the freedom to make their own choices
- Not a violation of the fundamental rights of the people
No government in power will do Dhan Vapasi and the other changes that India needs. India’s economic transformation needs to be preceded by a political revolution.
