India's voters stick a fork in globalization

Long held up as an example of why free trade works, Common Dreams has an interesting piece on why the voters of India ousted their pro-globalization government.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had embraced the corporate model of globalization, willingly accepting the dictates of the World Bank, selling off even profitable state-owned firms to foreign investors, and dramatically cutting business tax rates. A small sector of the India economy did boom, and the BJP sought a new term with a campaign that celebrated that growth. Its slogan was: "India shining."

Pollsters, pundits and business analysts predicted an easy victory for the BJP.

But the voters had a different view. They recognized that India's so-called "boom" has not shined on most Indians. As one opposition party slogan asked, "What did the common man get?" The answer was "nothing." And in India, where poor people vote at the same or sometimes higher rates than the rich, anger over the elitist nature of the boom proved to be decisive.