For what reasons would connect() fail?

For what reasons would connect() fail?
Attached is the full source. Below is where connect fails.

Code:

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SOCKET openSocket(const char *IP, int port){
  int ret;

  struct sockaddr_in my_addr;
  my_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;        // host byte order
  my_addr.sin_port = htons(port);      // short, network byte order
  if (inet_addr(IP) == (unsigned)-1)    // error checking
      return 0;
  my_addr.sin_addr.s_addr =
      inet_addr(IP);                    // set the address
  memset(&(my_addr.sin_zero), '\0', 8); // zero the rest of the struct

  SOCKET sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP); // do some error checking!
  if (sockfd == -1) error("Error in sockfd!","sockfd");
  ret = connect(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *)&my_addr, sizeof(struct sockaddr));
  if (ret = -1) error("Error in connect!","connect");
  return sockfd;
}

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Thanks!
~Inquirer