Thursday, August 30, 2007

Terror-Free Investing

Here's an interesting idea:

New Investment Fund Touts Terror-Free Investments

This is interesting. Investment funds which market themselves with a Terror-Free brand label.

This would provide a greater economic incentive for countries to avoid sponsorship of terrorism. The ordinary people can't stop the US from providing military aid to Pak, but the use of free-market instruments could allow for a financial cost to be imposed on Pak for its terrorism activities.

India's comparatively cleaner image and conduct should earn it some significant advantages. Why should cheaters prosper? Why should honest countries be put at a disadvantage? A terror-free investment brand would be just as beneficial as a pollution-free "green" brand label.

There are NRIs and others who are prominent in the international investment scene. Why can't they be enlisted to promote terror-free investment? Sure, we all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom-fighter, but with the spotlight on Islamist terror in the wake of 9/11, there's a much wider consensus than in differentiating those with Islamist ties from those of the free world.

The prospectus published by such a terror-free investment fund could go into detailed analysis of economic ties to terror. Nations would have to be much more wary of getting into the terror game, as it could have broader free-market repercussions on them that backroom-diplomacy might not be able to avert. There would then be a way to impact that wider cloud of "moderate" Muslims who claim not to directly engage in terror, even as they serve as the wider ecosystem within which the terror festers.

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