More good news from India
Apparently the Indian retail sector is on the verge of opening up to foreign direct investment, with Tesco, Argos, Dixons etc plus Marks & Spencer (described as 'needing no introduction', which is nice) piling in: "At present, foreign retail investment is restricted by regulation to single-brand retailers. Even then such companies are allowed to own only up to 51 per cent". However, there are hopes that 100% ownership will be possible, and here comes a double take statement: "It will generate over 25 million jobs directly and another 10 million in support in the next five years".
Property next, please.
Property next, please.
Labels: Sane economics, South Asia
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on Sunday, January 14, 2007 at 11:16 pm.
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Oh, God! Twenty-five million jobs! Oh, that is so wonderful I can't stand it!
This current government has been so good for India. They've allowed foreign publishing companies to buy large minority shareholdings in their press and other media. The WSJ has a large holding in India now.
Twenty years and India will be one of the most powerful countries in the world. It already has a highly trained, highly disciplined military.
Twenty-five million jobs! Oh,God, I hope no one ever votes for a Gandhi again! They held this wonderful powerhouse back for 50 years.
It is a jaw dropper, isn't it? Taking the population as 1.1bn and dividing by 60m, 35m jobs there is the equivalent of the thick end of 2m jobs here. Awe inspiring.
Excuse two posts in a row, but I think I'm the only one up - although Hatfield Girl may be watching a movie in a desultory kind of way on her flight - the thing is, it is the contributions of the multinationals that have moved India forward at such speed.
Before, consumers simply did not spend then money because suppliers were so undependable and uninterested in the consumer after they'd made a sale. So if someone who had spent an unconscionable amount of money to buy a fridge, say, found it started leaking after a couple of months, the seller would simply shrug and say something like, "Well, it was fine when we sold it to you. You must have done something to it."
So middle class consumers held back and guarded their money. Now, of course, all the multinationals are in, all offering 2, 3, 5 year guarantees (that they actually honour) and the Indians are buying.
Capitalism rules! It is the only way humanity has ever bettered itself. The profit motive!
HG - Oh, I do hope your plane does not have to circle Sydney airport while waiting for permission to land, burning all that precious fuel. Ha ha ha ha ha! G'day, mate!
No Verity I am up and I have been busy refutting your anti Cameron remarks .The estimable HG is on a plane is she . Pity she is a bit of a star in the firmament .
The newmanias wee about to travel to India whenyoung master N intervened I do hope another chance comes . It is such an inspiring country
I am thrilled beyond belief and it forwards my theory that India will become one of the three most powerful countries on our planet within 20 years. Yes, as little as 20 years. They're clever - in some cases, brilliant - and energetic people.
This makes me very happy. Think of all the side effects and trickle down effects ... Oh, if the children of some of those farmers who kill themselves every year because they cannot support their families could get jobs in the big towns and cities, even as sweepers or bearers or cooks, that would be so wonderful. And support their families back in their villages ..
..and Verity does it not back your challenging theory that what Africa needs is , to put it bluntly , a modern British Empire. It reminds me of how I used to enjoy Rudtard Kiplings tales of British Civil servants in India and oddly happy relationship they enjoyed with the indigenous people
It's all good, and with that over and out for the day.
Newmania - India and Africa are very different. The Indians have been well able to administer themselves (in their various kingdoms) for thousands of years. Since Independence, the Indians have been held back by the ridiculous Mohanandas Gandhi and his spinning wheel, but they have nevertheless governed themselves well - as in civil order and the rule of civil contracts (despite that there are - gasp - 26m cases outstanding).
The Africans have remained basket cases, dependent on the kindness of strangers, and will continue to be so because their tribal society respects a "strong man", who will rob them and the First World blind and never be held to account.
They should certainly be accorded the opportunity to sell their goods in Britain and Europe - there are entrepreneurial people throughout the human race - but they have handled themselves poorly since their independences. I do think they need administrators in the short term. This opinion is based on their record, which is ridiculous.
Croydonian, I was so interested in your original post that I missed the tag: Property next.
I don't know what their problem is, but that would be wonderful. Before the prices go beyond what one could afford. The Indian middle classes are already buying second homes in the Himalayas to escape the summer heat in the old hill stations, like Darjeeling, Dalhousie, Missoorie for prices that many of us would find challenging.
I thought there was no problem buying property in India...as long as you live in it. Makes sense no?
I know that Verity has an interest in the possibility of buying property in India, but I believe that non-Indian nationals are barred from buying residential property, hence my last sentence in the original post.
Contrary to what most people think, I am firmly of the belief that the key to economic development is retailing.
Only when consumers are offered a dizzying array of choices, do local firms buck up their ideas and start to offer decent service.
I stand corrected. You can only buy short leases I think. Unless you are a bank.
Lilith - Buying a short term lease is not buying property. It's buying the right to rent someone else's property. Trust me. I have been in to this research and with phone calls all over the world. They have only just found it in their hearts to allow NRI (Non-Resident Indians - in other words, members of the diaspora), to buy property in India. Before that, they were banned, like the rest of us.
Serf - as I said before, Indians used to conserve their money in banks, or even in their homes, or buy gold rather than buy undependable goods that would break down after a couple of months, without recourse.
Then they let the multinationals in, with their dependable products and their long-term warrantees. The consumers gained confidence quickly and started spending like sailors. Now, it's Katy-bar-the-door ... All that money that had been squirrelled away is now sloshing around the Indian economy.
It is not enough for everyone, yet. There are still thousands - some say tens of thousands - of suicides every year by men who cannot find the means to feed their families. But it's getting better. Every little loosening of the socialist screws, every little advance into capitalism, helps tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands get a foothold.
Twenty-five million jobs will translate into how many families, I wonder ... People who had never hired a sweeper before might hire a sweeper. People will be able to spend more at the little corner shops and stalls... Twenty-five million jobs could translate into perhaps 50m families benefitting one way or another.
God, I hope they never vote for another Gandhi! The longer they go without a Gandhi, the less intense the weird enchantment with this family.
25 million retail jobs?
From my own observation we probably have that many indians working in pc world , dixons and every phone shop over here, all useless.
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