After record gains in 2004 India’s communists were close to power. They derailed India’s economic liberalisation, curbed further deregulation, opposed moves to make the labour market more flexible, and prevented privatisation. Now the 700 million strong electorate has comprehensively rejected them and their left-wing allies.
The decisive victory of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a committed supporter of globalisation, has led the Bombay market to surge 10% on the open this morning. The American century has passed with the Anglo-American investment banking model stumbling, so it looks like the Anglo-Indian model of capitalism will drive the rise of the next economic superpower. Private capital is going to flood into India again. Capitalism is still the greatest way for humanity to raise standards of living and reduce poverty.