India, China: ancient civilisations, different paths

I have new article in SO website by Centre for Civil Society.

My article on India- China's ancient civilisational roots and their social, economic and political paths looks what many commentators especially the strategic geo economic commentators tend to ignore the historical past, they go upto 1962 or the times of Nehru or Patel letters!

"If anything, India could do well to learn from Deng himself: “… political independence and economic independence are inseparable. Without political independence, it is impossible to achieve economic independence; without economic independence, a country’s independence is incomplete and insecure.” With such leaders at the helm, little wonder that China has reached the stage it has."

Interesting Read

The following are some interesting reading, i happen to read and ponder!

1. China’s opacity contributed to spiralling corona infections and deaths. Its geopolitical effects will be long lasting
2. UN, WTO and now WHO: Ailing acronyms all
3. Was Islamic Conquest of India Easy for Muslim Invaders
4. The saga of lockdown: India has shown extraordinary solidarity, forbearance and leadership skills
5. A perception battle too is going on

War against Coronavirus and indifferent global institutions

can anyone believe that the current WHO Director General is not a medical profession doctor? can you also believe that he is a politician from Ethiopia!! how bizarre this to note

can our leftist friends question his incompetence and inability to manage the crisis like Coronavirus even after couple of months of extreme dangerous spread over all continents.

There are news items telling us that our Prime Minister is stressing for reforming the governance structure of WHO. Its high time to reform not just the WHO but all UN funded institutions which are running with absolute control of developed nations with colonial mindsets which will not suite for 21st century crisis.

It is not usually time to ponder on an issue. It has become desperate to find oneself with the polity of global institutions like WHO which is not doing its right job. The following are some odd posts but yet must read posts for one who is interested:

The Silver Lining to the Chinese Virus

Taiwan Accuses WHO of Failing to Heed Warning of Coronavirus Human-to-Human Transmission

Shruti Rajagopalan on India and the coronavirus

Some interesting reading

It is very interesting to see that the China seems to be moving on right track...:

• "...an affirmation of the Chinese leadership’s long-term goals: maximize national interests by augmenting economic benefits and engage distant lands in far-flung shores for doing so. This, however, would not mean China introducing political reforms for making its engagement more appealing. While the lines are clearly drawn between economic and political spheres, what is bit baffling is the way the leadership plans to go about in maintaining these distinctions. From an economic and business perspective, it seems prepared to accept the Western institutional and legal approaches in discussing issues related to investment, services, competition and procurement. The Western legal and institutional approaches though are largely shaped by principles underlying democracy, which discourage both political and economic monopolies. China seems to be aiming to achieve one without the other. Whether it will be successful in this unique experiment will be revealed only over time. "

Here is another not so interesting but.....

According to Aiyar Mr.Arvind Kejriwal told the Financial Times:

• “It is only private business which can create wealth and employment in this country. Indians are born entrepreneurs. Yet the government has been acting as an obstacle in everyone’s business. It is so difficult to start and run a business in India unless you pay up money. All these laws and policies need to be simplified, but then the government’s job should be to ensure the laws are followed.” 

Must read

Swatantra's Real - AAP's Fly by Night Politics

"Independent politicians like Masani, who did not believe in the socialist route taken by Nehru, rallied around Rajagopalachari. In the General Election of 1962, within three years of its formation, the Swatantra Party won 22 Lok Sabha seats. The next election in 1967 was its highpoint. It got 44 Lok Sabha seats and was the largest opposition party. It got 9.6 per cent of all votes polled and won 256 assembly seats in various states. And then, just as abruptly, by the polls of 1971, it slipped to eight Lok Sabha seats with just 3.1 per cent of votes polled. By 1974, the main party had ceased to exist." More here.

"The Swantantra Party had become the more legitimate voice of the free market...A decade ago, Mr. Vajpayee’s free market policies were staunchly opposed by Sangh affiliates such as the Swadeshi Jagran Manch. Mr. Modi managed to banish them all from Gujarat, making it a middle class utopia. The anti-capitalist strand in the Hindu right that repelled the modernising, pro-market middle class is now invisible and inaudible." More here.

How the UPA government made mess of India's economy

Raising the minimum wage is a formula for causing unemployment among the least-skilled members of society. 

How not to stop Modi

The impending demise of the Left....on May 16, do not forget to note history in the making, with the Left seats in the low teens if not at a single-digit level.

Chinese president Mr.Xi says "Constitutional monarchy, imperial restoration, parliamentarism, a multi-party system and a presidential system, we considered them, tried them, but none worked,"

"Indian society internalised the Victorian critique"

Read, well

Whether you like it or not, I strongly believe that one has to read between the lines to do things different in musings of once own. I simply follow as a matter of fact that unless you have something different to say or argue its better to keep mum and watch what's going around you. There are very good articles in today's newspaper/blogs etc. Here are some list:

Access to loos: Amartya Sen’s views fail the smell test

Let’s Shake Up the Social Sciences

Narendra Modi may end up making the Congress scion look less ineffective

Can China change course?

Barking up the wrong tree

The untold farm rebound story

"I said I too loved Hindi, which is my mother tongue, but that did not mean I should behave like a fool."

Stupidly unfair

Manish has a great piece in today's IE on minimum wage in India. He argues very perceptively that the "The trade union demand is a predictable positioning of narrow self-interest as national interest but the government's acceptance of their demand is unfair, delusional and economically stupid."

Aspirations of emerging giants

That is the title of my latest column in the Pragati magazine out today. The special thing about the article are the below paras:

• The difference in fundamental comparisons between India and China are best encapsulated in the prophetic words of Wuttke, who said “Chinese educate for practical life, the Indians for the ideal; those for earth, these for heaven; those educate their sons for entering the world, these for going out of it; those educate for citizenship, these for priesthood; those for industrial activity, these for knowledge; those teach their sons the laws of the state, these teach them the essence of the Godhead; those lead their sons into the world, these lead them out of the world into themselves; those teach their children to earn and enjoy, these to beg and to renunciate.” Whether one agrees or not, it is difficult to better these words, which capture the difference between India and China in its ethos and antiquity. The economic, social and political developments in these two countries have to be seen through the words of Wuttke.
• On the similarities between the two nations, Chie Nakane, a Japanese anthropologist wrote in 1998 that “…their respective great civilizations were formed along the two great rivers: the Indus and Ganges in India, the Huang-he and the Yangtze River in China, all of which originated in the Tibetan Plateau. The modern capitals of both countries, Delhi and Beijing, are situated in the north. In the south-east are situated two large cities, Calcutta and Shanghai, each at the mouth of the great rivers of the Ganges and Yangtze, backed by the fertile and productive areas of Bengal and Jiangsu. Both cities received the first impact from the West, its citizens were earliest exposed to Western culture and the two cities become the centres of modern rich cultures. Similarly, the southern regions of both countries have a high population density: Tamil Nadu and Kerala in India, and Kwangtung and Fukien in China. Further, both countries possess rich granary regions in the inland area of the Punjab and Sichwan. It is interesting that the names of these two regions connote rivers- the Five revers and Four rivers. Both societies possess a certain similarity, being composed of wheat-producing areas in the north and wet paddy cultivation in the south…”

Some Links

"Ambedkar himself has been accorded quasi-divine status by his followers"

"This less serious comment calls for serious response. Otherwise illiteracy about India will continue to persist for lack of literacy among Indians who speak for India. But, it calls for a peep into the world and the Indian economic history which most Indian academics, particularly economists, seem to be least interested in and therefore less aware of."

Some links

Interesting readings:

How far ahead of India is China?

Why Chinese capital outflows need to be watched in India

What I Learned From Reading Every Last Word of India Today

"Here is a moment for considerable serious reinventing of capitalism"

Back to Normal!!

Friends thanks for bearing with me! I got married on 18th of last month. Hence, no post for long period. Not many things happening in India in terms of new good economic policy making. Anti-corruption movement wallas taking up self-stage for granted partly believing that the voters are their side or for that matter the funding parties.

Though, there were many interesting readings in the past two weeks. Here some of them.

The Leisurely Procession Before and After- the Delhi Durbar By Ashok V. Desai

Decongest cities, the PURAway by Prof P V Indiresan

IAC should go beyond corruption by Prof P V Indiresan

Zhang Weiying: China'sAnti-Keynesian Insurgent by Abheek B

Valuing economic freedom

Here is a good piece by a close friend of mine. The title of his article is "Valuing and Preserving Our Political Freedom". His conclusion is more apt.

• The only way to preserve our political independence is to stand for economic reforms and basic civil liberties. Let us not squander away this historic opportunity and become political slaves of another power. Let us now strive for economic freedom to preserve our political freedom.

Interesting reading

Manish on rightly asks why there is no narrative for youth in India in the contemporary political setups. The following para is really suburb:

• The garibi hatao card does not work because voters are jaded by the lack of execution of promises since that slogan was coined 40 years ago. The free electricity card does not work because it leads to no power, which infuriates the people further. The reservation card does not work because we have reached the limits of confiscating capacity in hiring, education and promotions. The big state that is financed with deficits is discredited because the economic mayhem of the past few years shows that there is no magical “multiplier effect”, and deficit financing leads to inflation with no boost in output. The freebies card is less effective because it has to be given to everybody, since fixing the plumbing to target its distribution is so difficult to achieve. The majboori card is less potent because of prosperity; it is much harder to get people to migrate to big cities than it should be. The foreign enemy card does not work because Pakistan is imploding and we are hardly surrounded, like Israel is. The mystique of the incumbent does not work because the 24-hour news cycle encourages breathless breaking news over reflection. The “young blood” card does not work because the only pathways in politics are geriatric. The corruption card does not work because, um, if everybody lives in glass houses, everybody needs to answer the bell. 

"India can learn from Brazil’s Bolsa Familia and China’s Gansu Programme to make refinements to its MGNREGA scheme."

Professor Indiresan on "There is a proverb in Kannada language, ootathannicche; nota pararicche(meals according to personal taste; dress according to the taste of others). On that basis, the present day youth are trying to please their own kind even if it is against the wishes of their elders"

Economics, politics and election in India

Why India will beat China by Swaminathan S A Aiyar. He reviews the new book Why Nations Fail by Daron and James

Chinese lessons for India by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha He analyses the emergence of Chinese economy vs Indian economy

From Chief Minister to Chief Censor by A G Noorni. He analyses the recent decision taken by West Bengal Chief Minister on buying newspaper for public libraries etc.

Blame the system and not the politician by P V Indiresan. He argues that politician should not be allowed to spent any money from their own sources for contesting election because the State i.e. the Government will bear the cost of election with certain conditions. I believe, ideas like this were very old and great thinkers and politicians like  C Rajagopalachari and Patel had profound understanding of it which many now sees to be forgotten in India.

Prof Amartya Sen: conflicts in liberalisation

On December 16th of this month, I had a great opportunity to listen to Prof Amartya Sen. This is the first time I got to see him closely and observe his actions in telling something about economics, politics and his friends like Dr Manmohan Singh. The session was chaired by Business Standard Chairman Mr T N Ninan.

The reader of this blog know that I came to know the fact that Prof Sen won 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics Science through my Tamil Language teacher.

Any way, Prof Sen delivered a lecture at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi and it was a part of 2011 Delhi Economics Conclave. Prof Sen's lecture was not on any specific topic. He briefly touched broadly on: (i) global financial crisis, (ii) the Euro crisis, (iii) implications on Indian economy and (iv) poor performance of social development indicators in India.

Prof Sen's understanding on 2008 financial crisis might be exceptional but given the ideological lean what he informed the hundred of industry member was not new at least in my view. So basically, he summarized by stating simply that the 2008 crisis erupted due to over confidence of banks (on lending, risks, etc), lack of rational confidence and inability of regulator. He also said that Adam Smith never used the word "capitalism" in his all works. According to Prof Sen Adam Smith only used the word "market" to analyse the players in the society.

On Bush and Obama: Prof Sen explained that Bush era saw the unrestrained capitalism, crisis of government and bailout to banks.

On Euro: Prof Sen said Euro is not worth having because there is no fiscal union in the political economy of EU. He also pointed out that the central problem of Euro crisis is epistemology and the crisis of government efficacy resulting from the fundamental like freedom and actions of key decision makers. He further went on to argue that the people who are reading the crisis in wrong side. He also talked about the 1943 EU movement of unity in Euro.

On Indian economy: Prof Sen's views are not new but some of his views expressed during this lecture is worth reading from the print media:

• "We [India] need to maintain economic growth as growth generates public revenue and with public revenue we need to do things such as health care, immunisation, education...The government has to do a lot more,"
• "I spent an hour with Manmohan Singh yesterday but I did not have any illusion that if I could convince him that everything will go fine, not because he is not a good Prime Minister, as I think he is, because that's not the way Indian democracy works".
• "In a democracy, you have to carry the party, the coalition and the political system, including the opposition with you."
• "I do not think that there is any conflict in liberalisation.... Each time you have to see if it is doing good for the people or not," 
• "What we need is economic reforms, but reforms are not just about doing enough to addressed issues which are of great importance to those relatively prosper...Reforms are right but the formula that works for the only 20 per cent people of the country is not right,"

I must record here that Prof Sen rejected the way in which the Team Anna is trying to do with fighting corruption in India. I consider fasting for corruption is age old wrong doing. And I agree with him when he said that:

• "What I had, in fact, said was that the judgement and penalty for corruption cannot be a matter for street justice, and must come through the democratic procedures that we cherish in India, including the courts and Parliament," he said in a communication.
• "we do not not have to tie accused people to trees to deliver summary justice to meet the demand of most Indians to extend the process of democratic accountability in a more full-blooded way to corruption."

Eclipse-India, China and USA

Day before yesterday, I attended a Session on new book "Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance" by Arvind Subramanian. It was organised by CPR and you can see the panelists from here.


YOu know, an author talking means- always if and buts, so what then why not, how does that matter to India so on and on!


As always in the past, Montek did not read the book, despite that spoke for no less than a panelist!! nodded the Chair. The other co-panelist said he had read the book and made few remarks, yes you guess it is all if and buts!. 


The book is very slim. Swami had sort of reviewed this book in the Economic Times.


The full book is freely available here, though you cannot print it!!


Though, no connection, but read and think about it "One-Dollar Bribes for India Licenses Contribute to World's Deadliest Roads"

China's eclips

"China is a keen student of economic history, and can be persuaded that multilateralism is better for a superpower: it produces world order, yet leaves lots of space for superpower bullying." 


Some one said to me some years ago when I was attending the international workshop for Young Scholars on Social Sector in China that "If you are able to read Chinese mind, well, then you can pass any exams on this earth!!".

Imminent domain

"The Chinese economy may soon be larger than America’s, if measured at prices that reflect purchasing power. And the renminbi could even displace the dollar as the premier reserve currency within the next decade or soon thereafter."

New from the Takshashila

1. September Issue of Pragati "Gandhi won't Return" (pdf)
2. Demystifying India-China Trade Possibilities Should India sign a free-trade agreement with China? by V Anantha Nageswaran & Ritwick Ghosh, Policy Brief September 2011 (PDF)

Uninspiring map of city and sex

Here is a lines to ponder hugely:

In aravind Adiga’s Last Man in Tower, a doctor commenting on builder Dharmen Shah’s admiration for China, says astutely, “The first experience of Shanghai to a middle-aged Indian businessman [is] what the first experience of sex is to a teenager.”

More here