BASTIAT AWARD SPEECH by Sauvik Chakraverti

I thank the institution of the free press - may it live for ever - and all the editors who published me. I thank the two think-tanks we have in India, Liberty Institute and The Centre for Civil Society, for solid intellectual support.

The Frederic Bastiat Award for Journalism Promoting Liberty is a timely recognition of the crucial role paid by journalists in the transmission of ideas. Itis also a fitting tribute to Frederic Bastiat, whose memory should never die.

I first heard of Bastiat from a dentist who was an active participant at a workshop on freedom. Surprised at discovering his vocation, I inquired as to what books on Economics he had studied. He said Frederic Bastiat and Henry Hazlitt - in that order. I had never heard of either and promptly proceeded to obtain their works. Bastiat's little pamphlet, The Law, exploded hundreds of light bulbs in my brain. As did Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson, which, as you all know, is a book based entirely on Bastiat's famous essay "What is Seen and What is Not Seen": The Broken Window Fallacy. After reading these two books, I arrived at a realisation: That journalism mattered. Both Bastiat and Hazlitt were journalists. It is people like them who had ignited the mind of a dentist. If I could be such a journalist, I could make Political Economy part of general knowledge. I always persevered with this in mind, trying to keep my message simple and my arguments entertaining. I thank you for this award in Frederic Bastiat's name. It is an honour that I will always wear with pride.

I was asked to say a few words on how difficult it is to sell freedom in the Third World. In this context I have good news for you: it is extremely easy.

For example: they say population is a cause of poverty. We say: Population Causes Prosperity - every city is densely crowded and rich!

They say India should be 'self-sufficient'. We ask little schoolchildren what they want to be when they grow up. They answer: Actor, doctor, engineer, pilot and so on. We point out: How come no one wants to grow up and be 'self-sufficient'? We then talk of the division of labour, the division of knowledge, and why India should aim to become a nation of 400-500 free trading cities.

What about the 'vicious circle of poverty'? the students say. Rubbish! we reply. Poor people are motivated to work hard. The rich get lazy. If our economy is free, India will overtake America within decades.

Then there is education. Many say that the people are stupid illiterates in need of education. We say that tribals in the jungles of India possess the knowledge to distil - not brew, but distil - a fine alcoholic drink from a jungle flower called mahua. They do not have the freedom to sell this drink, which could take on tequila. Similarly, millions of Indians know how to sing, dance, and play musical instruments, but because the state has outlawed the nightlife industry, they languish in poverty.

On the morality of the market we use a telling argument: Carry a tray of ripe bananas and go before a group of monkeys. What will happen? The monkeys will snatch and steal all your bananas. Now carry another tray of bananas and go someplace where there are no monkeys but lots of human beings: a market. What will happen? No one will steal - except the policeman. This shows: 1. The market is a secular foundation of morality. And 2. Power corrupts.

Similarly, we use monkeys to discuss poverty - how monkeys hang around on the roadsides simply because passers-by throw food at them. And how this is similar to beggary. We ask: How can you truly help the poor?

1. By paying taxes to the State and asking it to help the poor?

2. Generously giving alms to every beggar you come across?

Or 3. Donating to Mother Teresa?

Little children agree that the last option is the best.

We also do not hesitate to call God on our side. Bastiat was no secular intellect. He said: To believe in liberty is to believe in God - and in His creation, Man. We point out that Hinduism and Islam, the two major religions of India, both believe in the free market. Hindus discovered Adam Smith's 'invisible hand' - in just two little words: Shubh Laabh, which means profits are auspicious and augur well for society. And the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was a free trader who once said: He who makes money pleases God.

With this award, India's 'second freedom movement' will gain great strength. It is now only a matter of time before Indian socialism bites the dust.

I end by quoting the last lines from that famous regicide Macbeth's soliloquy: "Hark! I hear a bell! Hear it not Duncan, for it is a knell. That summons thee to heaven, or (more likely) to hell."

Thank you.