An article in FT lists some not-so-obvious strengths of the Indian economy:
i. A leader in services, which positions it well to take advantage of the growing role of services in the global economy. In other words, missing the manufacturing bus may not be such a big loss.
ii. A talented workforce: A large workforce in which one third of students choose a STEM degree. One might add: having such a large talent pool makes for intense competition for jobs. Whoever gets in would a high degree of competence.
iii. Entrepeneurial spirit: which makes possible Jugaad or innovation in various fields. India landed a spacecraft on the moon at a fraction of what it cost others.
iv. A large and vibrant capital market, which is crucial to raising capital and imposing market discipline on firms.
v. Resilience of the economy: being services driven makes for resilience as does a democratic system. Growth may be slower in other places but it is also steady.
Indians fret about having fallen behind in living standards. If one looks at a 75 year time frame, then the task in the initial decades for India was simply holding together as a nation: not many gave it a high chance of doing so.
India has proved them wrong. That task accomplished, India turned its energies towards raising standards of living. We should be getting there by 2047. You have to ask yourself: how many large economies have done as well while preserving democracy?
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