Poverty

[Narayan S. Raja]

Sorry for the long delay in
replying; I've been busy.


On Thu, 24 Aug 1995, Dominik Wujastyk wrote:

> Narayan S. Raja said:
> > 
> > One basic fact that jumps out at
> > you is that, in fact, most Indians
> > who follow business/finance are 
> > highly optimistic and confident
> > about the economy.
> 
> Yes, I noticed that this attitude was common amongst many Indians,
> including some businessmen and politicians whom I met over the last year
> in India.  I could never understand it: it seemed to demonstrate
> extraordinary blindness to the attitudes and experiences of European and
> American companies trying to do business in India, or form partnerships
> with Indian companies.  I have some experience of this too, since I know
> business people and engineers in the UK who have been trying to set up
> collaborative projects in India.  They have not found it an encouraging
> experience, and I have heard nothing from them that makes me believe
> that there is anything to be optimistic and confident about.

[...deleted...]


Actually, the optimism among
Indian businesspeople/investors
has very little to do with the
attitudes/opinions of foreign
observers.  The "bullishness"
(hopefully, not foolishness   :-)  )
started way back in the '80s,
long before the days of economic
liberalization.

As an aside: despondency among foreign
businesspeople doesn't always
correlate positively with economic 
ill-health.  American companies moan 
constantly about the impossibility of 
getting a fair deal from Japan, yet the 
Japanese economy has thrived.

'Nuff said on my part.  25 years
from now, when some of you Indologists
are writing books/articles about
"India's Economic Revolution",
just remember -- I told you about
it first, 25 years ago.  Cite me.  :-)  :-)

Regards,


Narayan Sriranga Raja.