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Journalism of Courage
Whyte 038; Mackay is not the toniest of Scottish distilleries. But it produces Scotch, a geographic appellation that has so successfully travelled to India that it has almost produced its own political economy. So let serious-minded business analysts imbibe neat Vijay Mallya8217;s acquisition of Whyte 038; Mackay. Let us mix with the news a large quantity of India8217;s economic policy. Like so many items of consumption outside the holy matrix of necessities, Scotch had become a marker of power and influence in quasi-socialist India. Unavailable generally thanks to byzantine regulation, Scotch could, among other things, move government files during the licence raj. Industrialists could open negotiations with a gift-wrapped bottle. There8217;s still a lot of discretion left in economic policy. But just Scotch won8217;t even get you past the personal attendant of the minister8217;s personal secretary.
This has happened despite Scotch, like other imported liquor, attracting high duties the EU has complained to WTO about this. Scotch is still pricey but for middle class Indians, who continue to defy global trends and consume a large amount of whisky relative to lighter alcohols, it is merely a promise of a quality drink, not a passport to an enchanting world. What else is this but a demonstration of the democratising potential of liberal economics? And what better context than the acquisition of a Scottish distillery by an Indian to remind ourselves that despite Scotch losing its near-mythical cache in India, the moralist-socialist-rent seeking state survives best in alcohol bottles.
