The Indian government has shown an absolute lack of
understanding of the Indian economy. They seem to be living in their own world
of dreams without any clue as to the reality. The Indian government has
announced a 51% FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in retail. The major retail
outlets from all over the world are now going to flock into the Indian market.
The so-called reason for such a stunt is that this move will create millions of
jobs and reduce unemployment. Can anyone give me a lamer reason?
The world economy has been facing a large number of problems recently and has even undergone a major recession that has seem the collapse of many a company and a hike in unemployment. This was true for most countries but India was more or less cushioned against these upheavals. Our economy maintained a decent growth rate and the rise in unemployment was marginal. This was a result of our partial seclusion from the world economy. Thus, when international companies were collapsing due to their stupid policies, the Indian economy was stable as these companies did not have a major share in our economy. The economic troubles are not over yet and the short-sightedness of the international companies promises an imminent recession that is going to have a far worse effect than the last one.
Opening the Indian market to these companies at this time only exposes the Indian economy and growth to the vagaries of decisions of nincompoop managers who think they know the working of the world economy. This is madness to say the least. Retail market expansion would also lead to food inflation as most of the agricultural produce would be under their control – giving them an opportunity to manipulate the price of food. And talking about employment, if the government had looked at the ground realities in India it would have realized its folly. Millions of people are engaged in retail marketing and make a living out of it. This market is very stable and caters to local needs which in turn lead to more employment at the local level. International retail companies would be destroying this fine economic balance and more people would be unemployed as compared to the number of people who get employed by these companies. I do not blame these companies as it is their job to tap newer markets and the Indian market is a diamond mine. But it was the job of the government to look into the economic welfare of its citizens. With the innumerable corruption charges and scams against the present government, I am inclined to believe that this move had nothing to do with economic considerations, apart from narrow selfish ones for those in power. They have sold us out for a few pieces of silver.
The world economy has been facing a large number of problems recently and has even undergone a major recession that has seem the collapse of many a company and a hike in unemployment. This was true for most countries but India was more or less cushioned against these upheavals. Our economy maintained a decent growth rate and the rise in unemployment was marginal. This was a result of our partial seclusion from the world economy. Thus, when international companies were collapsing due to their stupid policies, the Indian economy was stable as these companies did not have a major share in our economy. The economic troubles are not over yet and the short-sightedness of the international companies promises an imminent recession that is going to have a far worse effect than the last one.
Opening the Indian market to these companies at this time only exposes the Indian economy and growth to the vagaries of decisions of nincompoop managers who think they know the working of the world economy. This is madness to say the least. Retail market expansion would also lead to food inflation as most of the agricultural produce would be under their control – giving them an opportunity to manipulate the price of food. And talking about employment, if the government had looked at the ground realities in India it would have realized its folly. Millions of people are engaged in retail marketing and make a living out of it. This market is very stable and caters to local needs which in turn lead to more employment at the local level. International retail companies would be destroying this fine economic balance and more people would be unemployed as compared to the number of people who get employed by these companies. I do not blame these companies as it is their job to tap newer markets and the Indian market is a diamond mine. But it was the job of the government to look into the economic welfare of its citizens. With the innumerable corruption charges and scams against the present government, I am inclined to believe that this move had nothing to do with economic considerations, apart from narrow selfish ones for those in power. They have sold us out for a few pieces of silver.
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