- “So although the leaders of Bangladesh and India have similar goals, the difference in the country’s development models is making for an interesting experiment. Countries in Africa hoping to follow these two South Asian giants’ growth trajectories should be watching keenly. If Bangladesh grows faster, it will suggest that manufacturing, starting with textiles, is still the ticket to industrialization; but if Bangladesh falters and India sustains its growth, it will imply that poor countries should look to services first.”
Noah Smith compares and contrasts India’s developmental trajectory with that of Bangaldesh’s. This is a topic with great relevance for anybody who is a student of India’s recent economic history. - “The phenomenon of the modern economic crisis, however, consists of the world abruptly discovering that the surpluses we thought we had — and in many cases pre-emptively consumed — don’t really exist. And the reason they don’t exist is because the new modes of industry or technology we deployed (and convinced ourselves were economic) were in fact not economic after all.”
Izabella Kaminska traces the etymology of the word “economy”, and highlights how the word has meant different things over time – and reaches a less than pleasant conclusion about the digital economy. - “Born in 1845, Nobin was always prone to experimentation. A failed attempt saw him being kicked out of work with a local confectioner. He set up his own shop to attempt the rosogolla, but was soon mired in debt as the sweet would keep crumbling. In 1868, he figured that the trick lay in the right consistency of sugar syrup—not too thick—to hold it together. But commerce was the last thing on his mind and he would distribute the rosogolla at local addas. Till a Marwari timber merchant who was driving by stopped at his shop for his son to have water, and the father and son were given the sweet to taste. They loved it and, almost fortuitously, rosogolla was extricated out of a neighbourhood and introduced to the community at large. “It may sound ironical but the popularisation and commercialisation of the rosogolla came through a non-Bengali,” says Dhiman.”
If a tree falls in a forest… Put another way, did a Marwari invent the rosogulla? In a lovely article in Forbes magazine, a loving biography of the rosogulla. - “In sum, the structure of the economy—and the key driver of structural change and growth—has moved from the agricultural sector to the service sector for both Haryana and all India. For Jats, who have been historically associated with land and agriculture, this shift has profound significance.”
Markets and Mandals is a useful way to think of the issue that Christophe Jaffrelot highlights in this paper in the EPW – the article may be paywalled for some of you. But it worth trying to dig out the issue and read it – a good introduction to the subject. - “Dubai, on the other hand, is a surreal alternate universe version of Las Vegas if Nevada were a Muslim country, right down to the desolate desert setting. The Dubai fountains, a giant choreographed-to-music attraction in front of the Burj Khalifa, was even designed by the same person who did the Bellagio fountains. Instead of casinos there are uber-fancy malls, and instead of prostitutes there are Victoria’s Secrets with no softly-pornographic ads or any lingerie on display at all, but in either place you will be blinded by opulence and easily parted with your money.”
Travel notes from a visit to the UAE – a useful way to think about the UAE, and Dubai in particular. My own sense is that it is certainly worth a visit, but probably not more than that.
EconForEverybody 