Our strategic partner in the war on terror, India, is going great guns. It used to be a snide and ironic claim that "India is the country of the future — and always will be." But since the London School of Economics—trained socialist bureaucrats there lost influence, and India lost its Cold War relationship with the USSR, India has been getting comfortable with capitalism, entrepreneruship, economic growth, and now full—fledged membership in the alliance against islamofascism. Rform began 14 years ago, is progressing, and has further to go. But India is definitely a rising force on the world stage, economically and strategically.

India is always compared to China, its even more populous neighbor, these days. China got a running start toward economic growth, with a focus on manufacturing. India has focused on the service sector, whose share of the world economy soars, as manufacturing declines. Few Americans realize that manufacturing employment in China is declining.

The McKinsey Quarterly is a very serious journal of management, published by McKinsey & Company, the top management consulting firm (full disclosure: they wined, dined, and flew me around once meeting partners, but I didn't take a job offer, though I have fond memories). It has just published a study ("Why Believe in India") of India's progress which is very good news indeed for those of us enthusiastic about India.

Hat tip: Ram Narayanan

Thomas Lifson   10 05 05