DesiGuy
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MUMBAI First, there was the pro-free-market development model known as the Washington consensus. Then came the Beijing consensus, which is used to describe Chinas state-led, export-powered growth.
Could it now be time to start talking about the Mumbai consensus? Lawrence H. Summers seems to think so.
In a speech to Mumbais business and cultural elite on Friday, Mr. Summers, a senior White House economic official, made a pitch for a third, Indian approach to economic development that he described as people-centric and driven by growth in consumption rather than exports, a reference to China.
In 2040, the discussion will be less about the Washington consensus and the Beijing consensus than about the Mumbai consensus, he said.
According to him, the term described a developing state driven not by mercantilist capitalism or exports but a people-centric focus on growing levels of consumption based globally.
Mr. Summerss comments on the Indian economic model echoed other recent praise for the country. This month, The Economist magazine, for instance, had a cover that read, How Indias growth will outpace Chinas. The comments appear to mark a turning point in Western impressions about India.
In the past, many foreign economists and policy makers lamented that the fractious democracy in India could not build infrastructure and lift people out of poverty at a respectable pace, but there now seems to be more optimism about the country.
Mr. Summers, of course, was also being a diplomat. His speech, in which he painted a flattering picture of relations between the United States and India, appears to be the beginning of a charm offensive before President Obamas visit to the country early next month, his first as president.
Mr. Summers is visiting business and political leaders in Mumbai and New Delhi for five days.
Many analysts in Washington and New Delhi have worried that since Mr. Obama took office, economic and political relations between India and the United States have lost some of the gloss and pre-eminence that they seemed to have possessed during the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. That impression has gained currency in recent months because of a string of perceived slights on both sides.
For instance, Indian officials and companies are angry that Congress raised by $2,000 the fees on visas that are often used by Indian outsourcing companies. And American officials and companies like General Electric are upset that the Indian Parliament passed a law that made suppliers of nuclear power equipment subject to liability, a position that is at odds with international convention.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/business/global/16summers.html?_r=1&ref=asia
Could it now be time to start talking about the Mumbai consensus? Lawrence H. Summers seems to think so.
In a speech to Mumbais business and cultural elite on Friday, Mr. Summers, a senior White House economic official, made a pitch for a third, Indian approach to economic development that he described as people-centric and driven by growth in consumption rather than exports, a reference to China.
In 2040, the discussion will be less about the Washington consensus and the Beijing consensus than about the Mumbai consensus, he said.
According to him, the term described a developing state driven not by mercantilist capitalism or exports but a people-centric focus on growing levels of consumption based globally.
Mr. Summerss comments on the Indian economic model echoed other recent praise for the country. This month, The Economist magazine, for instance, had a cover that read, How Indias growth will outpace Chinas. The comments appear to mark a turning point in Western impressions about India.
In the past, many foreign economists and policy makers lamented that the fractious democracy in India could not build infrastructure and lift people out of poverty at a respectable pace, but there now seems to be more optimism about the country.
Mr. Summers, of course, was also being a diplomat. His speech, in which he painted a flattering picture of relations between the United States and India, appears to be the beginning of a charm offensive before President Obamas visit to the country early next month, his first as president.
Mr. Summers is visiting business and political leaders in Mumbai and New Delhi for five days.
Many analysts in Washington and New Delhi have worried that since Mr. Obama took office, economic and political relations between India and the United States have lost some of the gloss and pre-eminence that they seemed to have possessed during the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. That impression has gained currency in recent months because of a string of perceived slights on both sides.
For instance, Indian officials and companies are angry that Congress raised by $2,000 the fees on visas that are often used by Indian outsourcing companies. And American officials and companies like General Electric are upset that the Indian Parliament passed a law that made suppliers of nuclear power equipment subject to liability, a position that is at odds with international convention.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/business/global/16summers.html?_r=1&ref=asia
