From Economy to Strength

Lower rates, fewer taxes, and a simpler regime ease both doing business and living. This year marks a great leap forward in that regard. The old justification for higher taxes to fund welfare does not hold water. Permanent welfare schemes erode on two fronts. First, they damage the economy by creating blockages in the circulation of capital and also draining it, thereby undermining the very lifeblood of growth. Second, they weaken the very people they target, fostering dependence and dulling initiative. For this reason, welfare must be mostly in the form of time-bound relief, and best delivered through independent agencies that generate most of their own funds, rather than through permanent state-run entitlements.

If the realisation has not yet dawned upon any section of the literati or any person of intellect, it must be stressed that economic growth is not only desirable for people but is the critical factor for national strength. Power here means the government’s capacity to perform its essential tasks: providing external defence and internal security, maintaining an efficient judicial system, enforcing contracts and property rights, running a stable currency, and building and sustaining quality infrastructure. These are the foundations of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The fact is that individual good and national good coincide. No individual can prosper and live in peace without national power, and no nation can gain power without its citizens being secure in their persons and possessions, and engaged in endeavours that are truly worth doing.

Niraj Kumar Jha