Whats Good For India Is Good For America

(Via Senthil) Charles Wheelan writes, India is far more than a telemarketing curiosity, and "outsourcing" is only a tiny piece of the economic transformation going on there. Having grown at roughly 6 percent a year for the past decade with the potential to do even better, India is likely to be one of the most important economic stories of the next decade. Support for a democratic country as a showcase to the rest of the world, real opportunity for uplifting the lives of the poor and most importantly a richer India will make for a richer America –a s US product consumptions shall increase dramatically, products designed for Indian masses can benefit Americans, Indian competition and outsourcing by American companies will lower the cost and improve the quality of all kinds of goods and services. He looks at china as a geopolitical problem waiting to happen, whether it's Tibet, Taiwan, encroachment in the South China Sea, selling weapons to nasty regimes, or any number of other problems that stem from being an autocracy on the move. If China is the bad drunk at a party where a lot of liquor is being served, then India is the muscular guy in the corner quaffing mineral water. He looks like a good person to get to know. He concludes by stating that Americans lnned to hope for continued growth for the 1-billion-plus people in the world's most vibrant democracy.
To get an idea about the potential and its quality – lets look at what Stephen Roach has to say – as we covered earlier, the potential comes from the structure of the Indian economy: Private consumption currently accounts for 64% of Indian GDP - higher than shares in Europe (58%), Japan (55%), and especially China (42%). He argues that the increased vigor of private consumption provides a powerful leverage to the Indian growth dynamic that is rarely found in the externally-dependent developing world. In Roach's eyes - there was one key difference between visiting Chinese and Indian maals - the locals were buying in India. Indian companies all have very sophisticated marketing and product development plans. And all of the banks were very focused on consumer-oriented growth strategies, especially in the mortgage finance and credit and debit card businesses. The competitive juices are coursing through the veins of India’s consumer industry. Unlike other Asian economies, India’s entrepreneurs are eager to compete. With a foundation of consumer support that is broadening and deepening, the underlying Indian GDP growth dynamic could now shift toward the upper end of a 7-8% range. A recent WSJ article points out that foreign retailers Salivate at Indian consumer boom. Clearly all signals are getting more and more positive for India.