Editorial on Kerala's policy on Retail
IE Editorial :
'Coke poisons people. Highway tolls exploit them. Fiscal discipline starves projects that can better their lives. So, of course, big retail chains, as Kerala’s Left explained to this newspaper on Monday, are anti-people. V.S. Achuthanandan’s revolutionary wolf of a government in the clothing of democratic sheep is nothing if not consistent, although some shine must have gone off the ban-retail-investment Bill on account of its sponsorship by a CPI minister.....
The fine theory behind the bill is that ration shops will come up instead of retail stores and people will be delighted. We fear Kerala’s consumers may decide that shopping in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which shockingly has no bar on big retail stores, may be a profitable activity. Profitable both as a consumer as well as an arbitrager. Since it is typical of “anti-people” big retail stores to offer lower prices, Keralites may spot an opportunity for some inter-state informal trade......
Who’s a capitalist subverter, they will ask in Kerala. Answer: Anyone in possession of a kilo pack of branded refined rice....
There are four more years of this government in Kerala and so many business activities still not banned. Of course, the need to ban some of them doesn’t arise because Kerala’s governments, even Congress ones run by A.K. Antony, have ensured investors understand the state is too special to be spoilt by things like job creation opportunities and new industry. The ruling party incidentally is fairly active commercially. But that’s different, of course. So, and VS should consider this seriously, what about a Left-backed big retail chain?
'Coke poisons people. Highway tolls exploit them. Fiscal discipline starves projects that can better their lives. So, of course, big retail chains, as Kerala’s Left explained to this newspaper on Monday, are anti-people. V.S. Achuthanandan’s revolutionary wolf of a government in the clothing of democratic sheep is nothing if not consistent, although some shine must have gone off the ban-retail-investment Bill on account of its sponsorship by a CPI minister.....
The fine theory behind the bill is that ration shops will come up instead of retail stores and people will be delighted. We fear Kerala’s consumers may decide that shopping in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, which shockingly has no bar on big retail stores, may be a profitable activity. Profitable both as a consumer as well as an arbitrager. Since it is typical of “anti-people” big retail stores to offer lower prices, Keralites may spot an opportunity for some inter-state informal trade......
Who’s a capitalist subverter, they will ask in Kerala. Answer: Anyone in possession of a kilo pack of branded refined rice....
There are four more years of this government in Kerala and so many business activities still not banned. Of course, the need to ban some of them doesn’t arise because Kerala’s governments, even Congress ones run by A.K. Antony, have ensured investors understand the state is too special to be spoilt by things like job creation opportunities and new industry. The ruling party incidentally is fairly active commercially. But that’s different, of course. So, and VS should consider this seriously, what about a Left-backed big retail chain?
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