Pounding Inflation

Or take real estate. Property prices in central London are now among the highest in the world. South Mumbai, which used to be in the same league, has been left a long way behind. A tiny one-bedroom flat of about 500 square feet in Kensington—a good area but by no means the most upmarket—will put you back by Rs 1.5 crore. Thank Margaret Thatcher, not just for the revival of the British economy but for the price escalation as well. The British, however, aren't complaining. The pound is unbelievably strong. It is willing to take on all currencies. I even found a foreign exchange centre near Piccadilly Circus which was willing to give a pound for Rs 80. But at least something is cheap in England: phone calls. A one-minute call to India from London costs only Rs 30 a minute from an STD booth, a piddling amount for the earning capacity there. From India to London, the cost is more than double this amount. Why? Because the telecommunications services in Britain are privatised and subject to severe competition. In India, on the other hand, they are under the monopolistic control of the government which charges what it damn well likes.