India's economy is catching up with China or just
'playing catching up' with China? 'Playing catching up' is more likely,
as catching up is just a hype that the Indians love so much to hear.
The
gap is too wide, the problems too difficult to resolve, the political
system is a big hindrance actually. Democracy is more a liability than
an asset in the case of India. Things move so slowly and implementation
so full of pitfalls and roadblocks, it does not even seem possible to
get things done or moving at all.
And please do not point to the
argument of 'population dividend' that the West is trying to pull wool
over people's eyes without looking at the situation. 'Population
dividend' can only work in richer countries like Japan or Germany where
people are needed to fill job vacancies. A population expansion for
Japan would be a bonus for Japan to leverage on. Japan needs more people
to work to support the Japanese industry and companies needing younger
workers to fill job vacancies.
India does not generate enough
jobs to support its population growth, so where is the 'dividend' that
they are talking about? As more younger Indians graduated from
universities, they cannot even find fulfilling jobs to fit their course
of study. To say that India has a 'population dividend' to reap is
living in a fool's paradise.
Anonymous
The millions of jobless India graduates can always come to Singapore because we got CECA !
ReplyDeleteToday on Channel News America, I saw a news report of a new Indian food delivery system that the Indians are raving about. Isn't this old toddy being repackaged in new bottles to sell? Most countries already have food delivery systems working for years. China is even experimenting with food and other deliveries using drones. That is something to report on, not old news that does not even excite anyone except old grandmothers and the Indians themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhat is even worse for India with more of this coming out is that small Indian food and corner stores are losing business to the big vendors using this to overcome the logistics of deliveries using puddled roads in India. These small shop's business will be cannibalized and decimated in no time by the big boys. Most of Indians daily survival lifeline is still highly dependent on such small shops. The other lifeline is still deeply entrenched in agriculture. Jobs are not even created enough to cater to younger Indians graduating from universities, so what are these older Indians going to do with their business uncompetitive anymore.
What are those small Indian shop owners going to do to overcome this? We shall probably see protest being organized, but to little avail and an exercise in futility, like the farmers protesting months ago.
You see, such delivery systems posed no threat in other countries, like Singapore, that have very small number of vendors or shops depending on deliveries and more on walk-in or walk-by customers. Sure, hawkers make use of that service, but more as a complement rather than a competing system that cannibalized their business. And there is such a wide variety of food at hawker centers, and all over the island that the big boys can never hope to monopolize. A visit to such hawker centers is more fulfilling than ordering on the blind based on past experiences or recommendations.
India should move away from its pre-occupation with countering China or wanting to be the next superpower and pandering to the USA's dictate. It is an unproductive mindset, tinged with jealousy and bruised ego.
ReplyDeleteIndia should just concentrate internally with developments and eradicating poverty among its people. Forget about what the USA is telling it to do and that is using it to counter China in everything, even in BRICS. Progress will naturally follow when conditions are favorable for investments to flow in. There is no short cut to grow the economy. Trying to stifle and decimate foreign investments by punishing them with retractive laws or forcing them to come under the control of domestic Indian conglomerates is a self-defeating move.
The biggest hindrance and roadblock to progress is India's archaic laws inherited from the British. The British system is a failed system, which is why Rishi Sunak can become PM, and which is why the British Empire has shrunk to what it is today, becoming a minnow trying to swim among the big fish.