Finding our due place under the Sun

It has been more than 6 months now that all hell broke loose. I am talking of course about the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the chain reaction that followed. The collapse of several more banks on Wall Street, crashing of the stock markets around the World and the complete loss of confidence in the financial systems of the World. It is safe to say that every newspaper worth its salt carries an article on the issue every day- in essence this stuff has received a lot of ink and rightly so. But how much ink has been devoted to the situation in India? I do see an occasional note on it on Yahoo financial news but no one has really taken the time to write about what we did right.

We are one of the few countries in the world that will actually grow this year. All of Europe, USA, Japan and Australia will actually have negative growth. There are plenty of examples of what India has done right. Jobs in PSU banks are growing- because they are the ones who played the game right. Advertising spending in India is going to go up as a result of the General Elections- and that did not happen in USA – where it actually fell despite the hotly contested Presidential election in 2008. And in India there is still a huge latent demand for affordable housing just waiting to be fulfilled once the liquidity issues are resolved.

A large part of the country’s population lives in the rural areas. Un-touched by the fancy synthetic derivatives that dug the graves of our so-called more “developed economic counterparts”, rural India is spending like never before. Yes the CPI is rising and yes Wheat prices in India are rising, but that is money that is being put back into the hands of a consumer that is learning how to spend- the Indian farmer. These are not free bonuses that are being handed out to failed executives at Multinational Insurance companies. This is money being given to hard working people so that they can keep the wheels of the economy turning.

Today’s Mint carries an article about the possibility of creating a new Global currency-something to replace the US Dollar. I think that is clearly reflective of the inevitable change that we will see in the next decade. Where the US, fueled by years of political isolation will not just be a financial leader by default. Where It’s companies will have to compete with Asia and win a fair war. Where purchases such as that of IBM’s laptop business by a Chinese company will no longer shock the world. Where the Indian Software industries’ cost advantages will no longer be viewed as “cheap” but as examples of operational efficiency.

For most US car manufacturers Asia (India and China primarily) are the only beacons of hope even if it means they have to adapt to local appetites and market demands. Destinations where they can still sell cars. India is one of the few countries with a large enough population under 35 to be an attractive destination to all major marketers in the World. Now only if we knew how to wear that badge proudly and also get just a little bit more of civic sense. But more on that later. For now I think we just need to fight for our rightful place under the Sun.