Deepak Lal: The coming PPP cum Reservations Raj

Since 1991, India�s �best and brightest� have found that they can best pursue their fortunes in India.

In my last column I had argued that, as by its very nature the basic instincts of the State are predatory, not least so in India, an important means of serving the common weal is to remove as many areas of economic life as possible from the arena of public action and the natural temptations for political corruption that thereby arise. One of the major philosophical differences between the Left and those who may be broadly classified as classical liberals is that the former has an inordinate belief in the benevolence of the State�s agents, particularly if they are imbued with its avowedly altruistic beliefs. Classical liberals by contrast, recognising the fallen nature of Man, not least amongst the largely self-serving agents of the State, have always questioned this basic assumption of the Left about human nature. The recognition by the leader of the vanguard of the Left in West Bengal that capitalism is the only game in town shows a realisation that Man may not be perfect or perfectible by human agency

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