BENGALURU: Eminent economist and anarcho-capitalist thinker David Friedman on Thursday said India should work out a capitalist economic model tailor-made for the country instead of following the advice of western economists.
He was speaking at an event organised by the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) in the city on Thursday. “India must figure out an Indian form of capitalism. In a rapidly changing world, there are several different capitalist societies with different needs,” he said.
The economist, known worldwide for his book, ‘The Machinery of Freedom’, discussed in detail his idea of the world in the coming years.
“We will be moving more towards a world where it won’t matter where you live, where your friends are or where you work. I have for long argued that competitive dictatorship is the only form of government that will work.”
He said that eventually, there would be a world market and the concept of citizenship would change radically. “There will be no Indians, Americans or Chinese. There will be people who will live in these countries and the countries will offer incentives to keep them there.” Friedman also said that in such a new world order, it would be reputation enforcement, and not contract enforcement, which would govern all business.
“A lot of contract enforcement is already done by reputation,” he said explaining how one-star reviews on product sites could cause financial damage to companies. “For reputation enforcement to work, we will need a mechanism to make the truth known to third parties in disputes between the buyer and seller,” he suggested.
Friedman’s latest project includes the study of several different legal systems across the world.