The new religion (The Flemish Beerdrinker)

Some Belgian left-wing politicians worry about the global liberal economy. They call it a new religion. But it’s a religion that fails. It’s an invention of a global elite of speculators getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. The liberal economy, they say, not only isn’t working, it’s inhumane. Is it? Not in India. The Financial Times reports:

India’s economy surged by 7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2004-05, lifting the full-year growth to the 6.9 per cent predicted by the government, as strong manufacturing and services output compensated for a weak performance by the agricultural sector. The figures released Thursday provide the latest evidence of the weakening link between rural incomes and industrial activity thanks to the rise of a mass affluent middle class, a booming export sector and the growing availability of rural credit. The growing purchasing power of India’s expanding urban middle class is behind much of the shift. NCAER says 13 per cent of India’s population will have an annual income of £2,439-£12,500 by 2009-10, compared with 3 per cent in 1995-96.

No growing purchasing power isn’t everything, but for millions of formerly poor people, it’s a lot. It’s their way to a humane existence.