Globalisation is popularly resumed in a simple and catchy analogy. According to the tale, when America sneezes, the whole world catches the flu. As the single most powerful economy in the world, this is not surprising. When the American economy plunges into recession, the knock-on effect can be felt from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe. However, American finances are equally affected by events in other parts of the world. Mauritius, distant as it is from Washington or Beijing, is always caught in the middle. In fact, our economic policies are getting out of our grasp.

Thus, for Nita Deerpalsing to say that the international context is no excuse for poor economic performance is wrong. Unfortunately, in a campaign where character assassination, sectarianism and juvenile debates dominate, one of the rare ideas expressed smack of demagoguery. The Number 18 candidate is seriously misleading the population. It would be ludicrous to assume that a simple change of government will provide a catalyst for the Mauritian economy. Initially, if the population decides on a change, the economy will possibly get a boost from renewed optimism. However, we cannot seriously expect this to last long.

Any incoming government will have to deal with the mammoth task of reforming the sugar sector. And here we see how events outside our control can lead to the down spiral of a strong sector of the Mauritian economy. As we saw, the whole sugar debacle started by the bitter action of the big (and cheaper) producers, Brazil, Thailand and Australia, at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The latter decided in their favour and brought down the EU?s protectionist tariffs, leading to the unravelling of our own industry. As a small player on the world stage, we can only play small, lobby desperately and take it on the chin.

Since 2000, there have been some major events on the international scene to shake all major economies. First there was the explosion of the dot.com bubble. After the nineties euphoria over the internet revolution, which inflated the price of high-tech companies, a more realistic revision at the beginning of the 21st century sent many out of business. The economy had begun to slow down, when Enron, defined as the future of energy, was felled by a corruption scandal at the heart of the company. The dot.com crash had a big effect internationally as it aborted the development of that sector elsewhere in the world. The high risk associated with the internet was all too apparent. In recent years, as we saw, only a handful of companies have made it big.

<B>Closer international integration</B>

But, as soon as the American economy was recuperating from one shock, 19 terrorists hijacked four planes, two of which were driven into New York?s financial district. What is now commonly known as 9/11 was to become the defining moment of the young century. The effect of these attacks sent the world economy into recession. On the one hand, it slowed down the growth of the aviation industry, which is still reeling from the subsequent downturn.

On the other, it decreased consumer confidence in both America and Europe as a climate of fear set in. This single event had deep repercussions in Mauritius. Both the tourism sector and the national airline suffered.

Then, in 2003, as the U.S and its allies prepared for war in Iraq, the price of oil began its now apparently inexorable climb. Last Friday, the price of the barrel rocketed to $60, a hike not seen since the oil crisis of the seventies and the Iraq-Iran conflict of the eighties. Coupled to reduced production because of the war, China?s voracious appetite for fuel has put a strain on world demands. In all this, it is not the developed world that suffers the most, but rather the developing world, where a lot of countries are still in the process of industrialisation.

Though it is naïve to assume that our economy is controlled by edicts passed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, these two institutions influence, along with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), our national policies. The concept of a duty free island, which the government passed off as some maverick piece of thinking on their part, was in fact only a WTO requirement. Globalisation has created a distinct shift in how a country?s affairs are conducted.

However, this is not to say that an incoming government cannot do anything to improve the everyday lives of the people. The reforms in education are an example of such affirmative action, but the next government must go further, and deliver better and more accessible health care. Despite events outside our control, and the last five years have been exceptional times internationally, in some measures the national government can and must deliver a more equal society.

<B>Diren valayden

Outlook Correspondent in Dublin</B>