YOU CAN'T INFLATE A GLOBALIZED ECONOMY:

India set to follow cheap car with £7 laptop: The government-developed computer prototype will assist in bridging the 'digital divide' between rich and poor (Rhys Blakely, 2/02/09, Times of London)

It is also the latest example of ultra-cheap engineering to emerge from the sub-continent. India has already given the world a 100,000 rupee (£1,420) car, the Tata Nano, and a super-basic £10 phone — goods that are now expected to find favour among relatively affluent Westerners as the global economic downturn bites.

However, the launch of a viable computer that costs less than most paperback books would herald a startling new era in thrifty manufacturing.