China vs. India or Dictatorship vs. Democracy?

[Dr Strangelove]

What troubles me about India is that there is a growing movement to remove (Mahatma) Ghandi's birthday from the calender as a national holiday, and replace it with that of Bose, the nationalist leader who fled British prison and took asylum in Nazi Germany. He eventually went to Japan and formed the Indian National Army, a relatively small unit which fought alongside the Japanese in Burma and Assam. As the Japanese Army in the area crumbled he retreated to Vietnam, where he went missing. It is presumed that some of Ho Chi Minh's boys executed him, or shot down a plane he might have been taking to Japan.

I've had heated arguements with Indians that I know about this. Many feel that Ghandi's nonviolent resistance tactics didn't really matter in the long run and that by accepting compromise with the British and Pakistanis Ghandi betrayed the nation. They claim that Bose personally repudiated the philosophy of the German and Japanese fascists. When you point out how the Japanese used then brutally shoved aside similar movements in China, the Phillipines and Indonesia in order to pillage their conquered territories the argument falls on deaf ears. It's really weird, when no other Asian outsdide of Japan has anything good to say about the Japanese "Co-Prosperity Sphere" to find Inidans defending it.

[Ted Striker]

Now that is some serious information Doc that I've never heard of before. Thanks for the history lesson.

[Dinner]

India is deeply mired in Socialism and this has dramatically retarded economic growth. Did you know that upon Independence India was tops in Asia (minus Japan) in just about every field. Per capita income, miles of roads & rails, lowest illiteracy, highest exports, and so on and so forth. Today it is at best middle of the pack (though often below the average) on everything but literacy.

Why the fall from Grace? India has developed a socialist style system which discourages business and crushes growth. Thus while other countries like Korea , Taiwan, Malasia, & Singapore were bending over backwards to kick start a business friendly market economy India was busy trying to figure out how to even out incomes and redistribute wealth. The results speak for themselves and that is why they are not going to regain the position they once had.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Oerdin, yeah. I was amazed at how far India went with socialist central planning when I took my 'Economics of India' class (from someone from India). I can now understand why the US backed Pakistan so much over India during the Cold War.

I mean, five-year plans that failed horribly, massive projects that didn't go anywhere, and just a stranglehold on any semblance of a market.

[Dinner]

To be fair the Chinese were once far, far worse but fortunately thaty've turned around so I'm hopeful India will one day be able to turn itself around but that would probably take something dramatic.

[The Vagabond]

Another factor in favor of the Chinese is that they seem to be very hard-working and enduring. As for the Indians, they don't seem to distinguish themselves in this respect from other nationalities.

[Kidlicious]

Strange that The Economist didn't blame India's problems on central planning. I wonder why, they are fairly right wing. How long ago was India using central planning?

[Kidlicious]

In the late 1970s the government began to reduce state control of the economy, making slow progress toward this goal. By 1991, however, the government still regulated or ran many industries, including mining and quarrying, banking and insurance, transportation and communications, and manufacturing and construction. Economic growth improved during this period, at least partially as a result of development projects funded by foreign loans.

A financial crisis in 1991 stimulated India to institute major economic reforms. After the Persian Gulf conflict of 1990 to 1991 caused a sharp rise in oil prices, India faced a serious balance of payments problem (its foreign expenditures exceeded its foreign income). To obtain emergency loans from international economic organizations, India agreed to adopt reforms aimed at liberalizing its economy. These economic reforms removed many government regulations on investment, including foreign investment, and eliminated a quota and tariff system that had kept trade at a low level. Also, reform deregulated many industries and privatized many public enterprises. These reforms continued through the mid-1990s, although at a slower rate because of political changes in India’s government. In 1993 India permitted Indian-owned private banks to be established along with a minority of foreign banks.

Encarta

[DanS]

Really, I find it amazing that India's democracy didn't implode during all of that economic mismanagement.

But there seems to be a substantial number of people in India now who want at least somewhat freer markets. I'm sanguine.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by The Vagabond
Another factor in favor of the Chinese is that they seem to be very hard-working and enduring. As for the Indians, they don't seem to distinguish themselves in this respect from other nationalities.

Sheeeesh.....You don't know many Indians personally or have very many in your country do you? I've never known an Indian who I could even remotely classify as a slacker.

[Q Classic]

go china!

well, not really. but they're a good market for korean products.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Kidicious
Strange that The Economist didn't blame India's problems on central planning. I wonder why, they are fairly right wing.

You think the Economist is right wing? I've never gotten that impression. I've always considered them rather liberal, especially when compared with Business Week, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.

[Ecthy]

Blaming central planning wuld be shooting own foot since they compare India to China, which, despite central planning, is far ahead the former.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
You think the Economist is right wing? I've never gotten that impression. I've always considered them rather liberal, especially when compared with Business Week, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.

It is liberal in the European sense, or, in other words, Libertarian.

[Urban Ranger]

Where India overcomes these obstacles, and has a clear competitive advantage—as in software and other information-technology services—it can be a huge success.

Ah, but they will be crushed as well.

Consider that Indian IT companies have compete worldwide, but Chinese ones don't, because there's a 1.2 billion persons market place for Chinese software. Japanese and Korean companies have similar but smaller advantages.