The hare-tortoise myth

The twin stories of India and China are the most dramatic in the world economy. In 1820, the two countries contributed to nearly half of the world’s income. In 1950, their share was less than a tenth; and currently the two contribute a fifth. By 2025, their share of world income will be a third, according to projections. Both remain the world’s fastest growing big economies.

China, of course, hogs most of the glory. India was ahead of China in 1870, as well as in the 1970s, in terms of per capita income levels at international prices. But since 1990, China has surged ahead of India—China’s per capita income growth in the past two decades has been at least double India’s rate. It has invested nearly half its GDP, a scale of capital investment—mostly in building world-class infrastructure—that is unprecedented in the world’s economic history.

So the title of Raghav Bahl’s book Super Power? The Amazing Race between China’s Hare and India’s Tortoise, is a bit fey. Is there really a race? Is India even interested in playing catch up? Does China even need to look over its shoulder for a bounding India? Or is this phantasmagorical race purely the spin of feel-good entrepreneurs, phoney management gurus and an uncritical, gung-ho media?

Full report here Mint

Night at the opera

[Warning: This is not an opinion. This is red-nosed reportage.] There was a Vegas showgirls evening air to the launch of Raghav Bahl's first book, Superpower? Frontseaters at the event in Delhi's Taj Mahal hotel included Congressman-turned-walking bazooka Mani Shankar Aiyar sitting next to human-turned-Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari sporting a crepe bandage on his right arm. Two tables away, there was Ravi Shankar Prasad, the only visible BJP presence apart from the mysterious man behind the jalebi counter. Also in the front row were author-management yogi Sri Sri Gurchuran Das and the Obi Wan Kenobi-like Kiran Karnik. There were many other worthies in the Network 18-covered durbar who had no clue that I had no idea who they were.

Considering that the book's about the amazing race between China's hare and India's tortoise (its subtitle), I was expecting a larger Chinese contingent. But it was overwhelmingly Indian tortoises and firangi turtles and only a small smattering of Chinese rabbits. Kamal Nath made a late entry — well, not late, considering the show, slated at 6.30, was waiting for him and started an hour later — and sat next to former RBI boss Bimal Jalan, while Nandan Nilekani claimed the unique identity of becoming Kamal Nath's 'left hand man' at the table and 'right hand man' on the stage for the evening.

Full report here Hindustan Times

Cheek by jowl

There is much talk of a race between India and China. The truth is that both countries pay remarkably little attention to each other, except in a few military and diplomatic arenas. Neither side is impressed by the other’s political systems and draws curiously few lessons from the other's economic policies.

Superpower: The Amazing Race
Between China's Hare
 and India's Tortoise
Raghav Bahl
Allen Lane
Rs 699; Pp 482

  

But the idea of two Asian giants caught in a giant nation-state rivalry makes good copy. Media magnate Raghav Bahl attempts to dig a little deeper, comparing the Indian tortoise and the Chinese hare. The two are compared at various levels, showing where one has an advantage and the other one is shackled. There is a set of interesting case studies of how the two handled areas like power, civil aviation and railways — generally with India getting the worse of it.

This is a fast moving text, at times veering close to incoherence. Skipping through history, geopolitics, demography, entrepreneurship, different bits of the economy, it tosses up a lot of data, a fair number of quotes (some of which are repeated) and an honest share of unanswered questions.

Full review here Hindustan Times

On markets and scams

India’s political and social structures have preserved entrepreneurs, if not exactly cut them loose, observes Raghav Bahl in ‘Superpower?’ (www.penguinbooksindia.com). Even as the state invested in big-ticket capital assets in the early decades after Independence, land continued to stay in private hands, he reasons in the chapter titled ‘Entrepreneurs, consumers and English speakers’.

“India’s sprawling rural economy has always been entirely ‘capitalist’ in its orientation. Even the urban economy allowed private enterprise to grow under a somewhat draconian regime of licences and approvals… The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is among the oldest in Asia. Capital and credit have always been available, albeit for a ‘price,’ for private enterprise.”

Harshad Mehta episode
Of interest to finance professionals is a section in the chapter, captioned ‘the story of two stock markets,’ opening with how Harshad Mehta, who in his late thirties, ‘pulled off a stock market scam in India which would have put Bernie Madoff to shame.’ The year was 1992 and there was much excitement around a freshly minted, rapidly privatising economy, the author narrates.

Full report here Hindu

Bookshelf spills economics, underworld, god

As the weather slides and more clouds threaten to burst, retreat with a book and a cup of coffee. The mixed bag this week...

1. 'Superpower? The Amazing Race Between China's Hare and India's Tortoise': Written by Raghav Bahl; Published by Penguin-Books India; Priced at Rs.699.

With telling insights into the two Asian powers' histories, polities, economies and cultures, the book probes the difference between the way India and China have built their economic foundations. It shows that even as the dragon and elephant economies are together projected to dominate the world in a matter of decades, there is a palpable difference in the way China and India work on the ground.

China is spectacularly effective in building infrastructure and is currently investing almost half of its GDP; it is crafting a new economic idiom that has stood textbook wisdom on its head. Meanwhile, India is the classic example of a 'promising' economy: more than half of its GDP is consumed by its billion-plus population.

2. 'Sacred Grove': Written by Daman Singh; Published by HarperCollins-India; Priced at Rs.200.

Master of jingles, aspiring Bay-blader and star cricketer on home ground, Ashwin is smart, funny, and sometimes bratty beyond belief. As the son of the district collector in a small town in central India, he has little to worry about except his mother's mood swings, his father's principles and an about-to-be-born sibling. And yes, his Masi's occasional visits, not always with a gift in hand.

Full report here Sify

A hot debate at Raghav Bahl's book launch

I am sure we have all heard the Hare and the Tortoise tale when we were little children. This time the Hare and the Tortoise are two neighboring countries (India and China) that went head to head at the book launch of Superpower? The Amazing Race Between China's Hare and India's Tortoise by Raghav Bahl on August 17 at 6.30 p.m. at Durbar Hall, Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi.

This was no ordinary book launch where the author just gave an insight of his new book but in fact in my opinion, it was one of the most intellectual debates on the hottest topic of this decade. The panel consisted of Nandan Nilekani (Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India), M Damodaran (Former Chairman, SEBI), Bimal Jalan (Former Governor, RBI) and Shekhar Gupta (Editor-in-Chief, The Indian Express). Rajdeep Sardesai and Shereen Bahn both moderated the healthy discussion that lasted for approximately 45 minutes.

Full report here Hindustan Times

Raghav Bahl launches his first book

The book Superpower: The Amazing Race between China’s Hare and India’s Tortoise gives insights into the two Asian powers.

Network18 Managing Editor Raghav Bahl answers these
questions in his first book Superpower

Is India ready for superpower status? Or are we irretrievably behind in the game of catch-up with China? What are our key strengths and weaknesses, and what unique things do we have to contribute to the global community in the 21st century?

In a gala launch ceremony held at Taj Palace in New Delhi, Superpower The Amazing Race between China’s Hare and India’s Tortoise was launched yesterday by Kamal Nath, Minister of Surface and Road Transport; Nandan Nilekani, author, entrepreneur and Head of UID project; Bimal Jalan, S Damodaran, and Shekhar Gupta. The book has been published by Penguin Books India while its Hindi edition is published by Prabhat Prakashan.

Speaking at the launch, Kamal Nath said, “It is not a fight between India and China for becoming the superpower, rather we should go hand in hand to achieve the superpower status in the world. India lacks infrastructural deficit, whereas, China has explored this area, thereby moving fast forward in the path of superpower.”

Full report here Best Media Info

Can India make up lost ground on China?

Is India ready for superpower status? Or are we irretrievably behind in the game of catch-up with China? What are our key strengths and weaknesses, and what unique things do we have to contribute to the global community in the 21st century? Network18 Managing Editor Raghav Bahl answers these questions in his book Superpower?' The Amazing Race Between China’s Hare and India's Tortoise.

Superpower published by Penguin Books India, is already being called as one of the most definitive books on the subject. In the race to superpower status, who is likely to breast the tape - China’s hare or India’s tortoise? China’s spectacular sweep, compared to India’s relatively mild rise, could tempt an easy answer. But history unfolds over time.

Bahl argues that the winner of the race with the biggest stakes ever might not be determined by who is investing more and growing faster today, but by something slightly more intangible: who has superior innovation and more entrepreneurial savvy and is grappling with and expanding in the most intensely competitive conditions. And, at the end, it might come down to just one deciding factor: can India fix its governance before China repairs its politics?

Speaking on the occasion of the book's launch, Bahl said, "I always had this niggling little doubt whether I had the resilience and the gumption to actually sit down and work on a 200-250 page book. So I said while this is as good a time I need to try it out and let me go and take this challenge for myself."

Full report here Moneycontrol