India – a poor man’s America?
Apart from the fact that India is pretty poor, it has a lot of similarities with USA. Here are 12 of them.
1. Both economies are run by their domestic consumers. In contrast, the economies of China, Japan, Germany and East Asia are powered by overseas customers (through exports).
2. Both economies are heavily dependent on services, particularly information, entertainment, education & knowledge related. In contrast, China, Germany and Japan are dependent on manufacturing.
3. Both countries import far more than export. In contrast, Japan, Germany and China have reverse.
4. Both economies neutralize their import imbalance through investment flows from institutional investors.
5. People of both countries are in general optimistic and believe tomorrow will be better than today, and believe that education can make the difference in earning. That shows up in elevated consumer spending.
6. Governments of both nations don’t know to spell balanced budget. They borrow a lot from the markets. In contrast China, Singapore and other nations run a pretty balanced budget.
7. Both nations have had thriving markets particularly in the commodity and equity sectors for over a century. In contrast most of Asia didn’t have a thriving financial market until recently.
8. In both nations the government is officially secular but more than half the populace deeply believe in religion. In contrast most of Chinese and Russians are atheists and most Europeans are either agnostics or not ardent Christians, and in most of Islamic world governments officially have a religion.
9. Both countries have a thriving movie/entertainment industry (Hollywood & Bollywood) that is watched even by their enemy nations. This soft power is an important factor for US and some point India can exert it too.
10. Both countries were British colonies, fought against General Cornwallis (the general led the British forces in American war of Independence and was a Governor General of British India) and retained the English language legacy & favorable relationship with the former master.
11. Both are democracies with enormous number of quirks that would make an outsider wonder how the country runs with all this.
12. Both are related to Columbus. That guy sailed to look for India but found America instead.
