BUSINESS
It would be tragic if recent events led Indians to think that earlier regime of economic nationalism was the best
It would be tragic if recent events led Indians to think that earlier regime of economic nationalism was the best
The recent convulsions in the international financial markets have provoked an unseemly amount of gloating on the part of many in the developing world.
That Fidel Castro and Mohammed Ahmadinejad should pronounce themselves vindicated by the crisis in global capitalism is hardly surprising, since capitalism has over the years been so strongly identified with America that both see the problem through the lens of their own anti-Americanism.
A worrying number of people in India, though, are saying similar things. “See, we were right in opposing all this liberalisation,” one told me, stressing that India’s previously over-regulated system had saved it from a similar fate much earlier. Another approvingly quoted right-wing rants in the US about the dawning of a ‘Socialist Republic of America’ and added, “We should nationalise the banks again - after all, even the
Americans and Brits are doing it!”
They are wrong, but there’s a real danger that India’s political classes could find themselves persuaded by this lapse into historical amnesia.
In India, the debate between capitalist globalisation and self-reliance required a huge paradigm shift. Whereas, in the West, most people axiomatically associate capitalism with freedom, India’s nationalists associated capitalism with slavery - because the British East India Company had come to trade and stayed on to rule.
So from 1947, our nationalist leaders were suspicious of every foreigner with a briefcase, seeing him as the thin edge of a neoimperial wedge.
Instead of integrating India into the global capitalist system, as only a few developing countries like Singapore so effectively were to do, India’s leaders were convinced that the political independence they had fought for could only be guaranteed through economic independence.
Self-reliance became the slogan, the protectionist barriers went up and India spent 45 years with bureaucrats rather than businessmen on the ‘commanding heights’ of our economy, wasting the first four and a half decades after independence in subsidising unproductively, regulating stagnation and trying to distribute poverty.
For decades, the theory of development economics had suffered from two intertwined historical circumstances — the experience of the Great Depression in the 1930s, when only robust government intervention saved a number of economies, and the fight for freedom from colonial rule, which involved the overthrow of both foreign rulers and foreign capitalists (though few nationalists could tell the difference).
It is sadly impossible to quantify the economic losses inflicted on India over four decades of entrepreneurs frittering away their energies in queuing for licences rather than manufacturing products, paying bribes instead of hiring workers, wooing politicians instead of understanding consumers and “getting things done” through bureaucrats rather than doing things for themselves.
The disastrous inefficiencies of the system were masked by subsidies from the national exchequer and a combination of vested interests — socialist ideologues, political opportunists, bureaucratic managers, self-protective trade unions and captive markets — shielded it fiercely from economic reality, as millions of Indians languished in poverty.
The current financial crisis, far from prompting a retreat, is an opportunity to safeguard those gains and to build on them. For more than four decades India suffered from the economics of nationalism, which equated political independence with economic self-sufficiency and so relegated us to chronic poverty and mediocrity.
Let us not condemn Indians again to repeating the mistakes of that unlamented past. IHT
(Shashi Tharoor, chairman of Dubai-based Afras Ventures and former undersecretary-general of the United Nations)
IND vs NZ, 2nd Test Dream11 prediction: Fantasy cricket tips for India vs New Zealand match
How To Prepare For The UPSC CSE 2025 Exam?
'India supports dialogue and diplomacy, not war': PM Modi at BRICS Summit
This woman lost in Dubai's desert orders camel via Uber, netizens say 'your camel has arrived'
Good news for Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm gets NPCI nod to..., shares surge over 7%
Fan requests Rohit Sharma to deliver her message to Virat Kohli, here's how Indian captain responded
Rajkummar Rao recalls being scammed in Delhi during struggle days: 'The man had...'
Robbers pose as customers in jewellery shop, what owner did next will leave you shocked
Maharashtra Elections 2024: NCP releases 1st list of 38 candidates; Ajit Pawar to contest from…
Japanese Shah Rukh Khan leaves Bollywood Badshah's fan impressed, social media says...
Will KL Rahul be retained by LSG ahead of IPL Auction? New report provides BIG update, it says...
'Wayanad will have two MPs': Rahul Gandhi after Priyanka files nomination for bypolls
I Want To Talk teaser: Abhishek Bachchan announces his next with Shoojit Sircar, to release on...
Diwali 2024: When is Deepawali, October 31 or November 1? Check dates, mahurat timings and more
JEE Main 2025 exam date to release TODAY: Know how to register, check exam calendar HERE
Jhalmuri fever hits London: Video of British man selling Kolkata-style street food goes viral, watch
SC slams Centre as Delhi air worsens, calls environment laws...
Ex-cricketer suggests replacing KL Rahul with THIS batsman for 2nd Test vs NZ, he is…
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee smashes bottle, hurls it towards Chair in row over Waqf meet
Know how Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani's children Isha Ambani and Akash Ambani got their names
Family finds venomous snakes under their bed, what happened next will leave you in shock
This company's Vice President gets fired after raise and bonus, reason will leave you shocked
Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Financial eyes JVs with Allianz SE in insurance sector
IMD's BIG update: Cyclone Dana forms over Bay of Bengal, to cross Odisha-Bengal coasts on...
This company gifts cars as Diwali bonus, calls its employees celebrities, is owned by…
Amid divorce rumours with Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan skips her family gathering
When Ratan Tata opened up about his parents separation, first love and childhood, he said...
Blow to Mukesh Ambani ahead of Isha Ambani, Akash Ambani's birthday, Reliance stocks...
Saudi Arabia's futuristic megacity project Neom a big threat to migratory birds? Experts say...
Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t know about this iPhone feature, left speechless, know here
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio offers superhit Diwali plan, unlimited 5G internet for just Rs...
Bengaluru Rains: Schools closed, WFH advisory for private companies as IMD issues yellow alert
Israel confirms killing of Hashem Safieddine, presumed successor of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah
Big move by Anil Ambani, his company to invest Rs 10000 crore to set up India's largest...
Meet Indian genius, who was born in small town, today leads AI innovations of Google, she is...
Woman stays at luxury resort worth Rs 3 lakh for free, claims she used...
Delhi AQI update: Air quality worsens to 'very poor' level at 349, becomes 'severe' in these areas
PM Modi to hold bilateral talks with Xi Jinping at BRICS Summit today
Odisha, West Bengal brace for Cyclone Dana: How was it named and what it means?
POCSO case: Mumbai Police ask Ekta Kapoor, her mother to appear for questioning tomorrow
Watch: Can you identify all the actors in this clip from 1991?
Priyanka Gandhi to file nomination for Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll today
Meet woman, whose father used to sell milk, cracked UPSC exam with AIR 62 to become...
Delhi: No water supply in Capital for 12 hours on Friday due to…; check list of affected areas
Salman Khan resumes shooting for Sikandar amid death threats from Lawrence Bishnoi
India, Pakistan extend Kartarpur Sahib corridor agreement for five years
DNA TV Show: What is BRICS currency? Is it possible to introduce it today?
IPL 2025: Three-time IPL champion set to join Gujarat Titans as batting coach - Reports
PM Modi, Xi Jinping to hold bilateral meet on sidelines of BRICS Summit on Oct 23, first in 5 years
New Himalayan snake species named after Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio, it will be called…
Cyclone Dana: Schools closed in West Bengal, Odisha for 4 days from...
Delhi govt to provide special assistance of Rs 5000 monthly to...
Rape-accused Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein diagnosed with bone marrow cancer
IND vs NZ: Sarfaraz Khan or KL Rahul; Who will find a spot in 2nd Test? India coach says…
Mumbai Police interrogates Ekta Kapoor, her mother Shobha Kapoor in case under POCSO act
Mukesh Ambani may team up with govt to sell food products through...
Bengaluru: Several feared trapped as under-construction building collapses
Best Cheap VPS Hosting Providers: Top Picks for Hosting Under USD 10
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal set to raise Rs 8500 crore, says it is meant to...