September 14, 2009
Mr Chiran S Thapa
Naxal, Kathmandu
I did intend to provoke people to join in in the brainstorming on various issues related to federalism by writing this article. But I didn't assume that units in a federal system cannot bargain in the best interests of the Nepali people, I had merely recorded my apprehension. But my apprehension is not misplaced in as much as evidenced by treaties from Koshi through Mahakali.
As a student of economics I don't believe too much in protectionism, rather I believe in comparative and competitive advantage. However, I am great fan of self reliance, to the extent it is economically and financially viable.
With regard to bulk power what we have now is monospony and this is not a sensible path to follow and this basically amounts to "protecting" inefficiencies. By mere restructing the power sector we can reduce close to a quarter of our current load shedding problem.
I write these pieces with passion such that people will contemplate about the matter rather carefully.
PS: This morning I made a presentation on federalism and water resource to about two dozen members of CA, challenging them to seriously think about its negative externalities. The luminaries present were Dina Nath Sharma, Bhim Acharya, Gagan Thapa, Pasang Sherpa, Buddha Sayami, et al. It succeeded in generating a very passionate debate.
With best regards,
Sincerely,
Ratna Sansar Shrestha,
-----Original Message-----
From: C.S. Thapa [mailto:cst21@hermes.cam.ac.uk] On Behalf Of C.S. Thapa
Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 4:39
To: Ratna Sansar Shrestha
Subject: Re: Fw: My article
Dear Ratnaji,
I find your article interesting even when it is provocative as it assumes or comes close to assuming that units in a federal system cannot bargain in the best interests of the Nepali people. Protectionism -such as protecting a country's industries, services when they mean consumers have to cough up more is an argument for cheaper imports. Power and water consuming units will have to compete with other buyers, including foreign ones, for the right price to pay for surplus power (the MidWest) and water (Melamchi). This is doable but monopoly power in purchase is replaced by some form of competition, which, other things being equal, leads to greater efficiency.
Your analysis deserves careful consideration nevertheless.
Best,
Chiran
On Aug 14 2009, Ratna Sansar Shrestha wrote:
>Sharing water resources
>
>Water resources will be the next contentious issue in a federal Nepal
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