“Historians, development experts, and political scientists praise the accomplishments of the Indian state of Kerala. Once home to poor education and healthcare, Kerala now boasts literacy rates and life expectancy rates surpassing all the states of India and on par with the developed world. What Kerala lacks, however, is a developed economy able to financially sustain its population without outside assistance. Kerala has an abundant supply of educated, healthy individuals but not enough demand for skilled labor to support an industrial, self-sustaining economy. The main reasons behind the disparity between the high degree of social achievement in Kerala and the low degree of economic achievement are government policies influenced by socialist and communist ideologies, the impact of migrant remittances, the power of labor unions, and a poorly developed overall economic infrastructure.”