The Times of India | Laptop licence: Why are failed policies being revived again?

In the 1970s and 1980s, a large country undertook a “market reserve” policy. The idea was to restrict imports, protect the infant computer industry, and give it a chance to become competitive. But after nearly two decades of restrictions, the country was far from achieving its desired goal of becoming a major international player in computers. Smugglers prospered as they found ways to get around the trade barriers. The local players that benefited from a closed market were so inefficient that many vanished as soon as the winds of globalisation swept in the 1990s. That country is not India, but Brazil. Read the full article here.