Amit Varma wins Bastiat prize

His use of satire to criticise overbearing govt regulation clinched this win

NEW YORK: Mumbai’s Amit Varma, 33, who has a popular blog called “India Uncut” won this year’s $10,000 Bastiat Prize which comes with the signature crystal candlestick, evocative of French classical liberal theorist Frederic Bastiat's satirical essay in which the candle-makers of France petition the government to block out their competition: the sun. 

"Frederic Bastiat is one of my intellectual heroes and his ideas are terribly relevant to modern India. Therefore I'm honoured to win the Bastiat Prize, especially given the calibre of the other finalists," said Mint columnist Varma, who is giving a talk later on Friday at the Asia Society in Manhattan.  

Previous winners of the Bastiat have been Tim Harford (Financial Times), Mary Anastasia O'Grady (Wall Street Journal) and Robert Guest (The Economist). Varma who also writes for the Wall Steet Journal and The Guardian beat out a crowded field of 280 journalists and writers to win the Bastiat.

"Varma's articles are brilliant and witty. Like Bastiat, he uses satire to explain and criticise overbearing government regulation. While his subject matter is India, the ideas are universal," said Julian Morris, Executive Director of the International Policy Network, the organisation which runs the Bastiat Prize. 

Clive Crook, senior editor of The Atlantic Monthly, and Associate Editor of the Financial Times won the second prize.