Nerve Endings Firing Away

Alpha couldn’t have asked this at a better time, “Lot of the countries are doing better than India and Thailand without being termed ‘Free‘” when she commented on yesterday’s post. I assume she was thinking of China when she said that. She may not believe me but I guess two other influential gentlemen might change her views. Gary Becker and Richard Posner lay down excellent points on why they think that China may not surpass the United States economically. Most of it lies in the fact that it still is a authoritarian state and thus vulnerable to political distress that may significantly impact the economy (for e.g. Iran and Soviet Union). However, Becker has a tiny reference to India’s chances.

“I am not saying that China will not become the leading economic nation, but rather that it is far too early to tell. The many failed predictions about Japan and other nations should make us modest about such long-term predictions. Perhaps India will become the leader-it has strengths (and weaknesses) that China lacks- or maybe Brazil if it can finally get its act together.” [via Becker-Posner Blog]

I hope he elaborates on that in the future, thus weakening Economists’ recent India-China comparisons.