There are three perfectly timed triggers for this week's National Interest. First, the easy virality of a social media post mixing up India's gross domestic product (GDP) with the wealth (as determined by market capitalization) of its billionaires and talking about how it exposes the stark inequalities in our society.
Some really, really smart people fell for it. All good people, after all, have their hearts in the right place. India's inequalities are deep, wide, and in many ways getting worse. So, what is the argument?
It is just that GDP is the sum of all national income in a year, whereas wealth is what you've saved up and built over your past incomes, the market value or capitalization of your equity holdings and your assets. Wealth is not income and vice versa.
The total capitalization of Indian markets, closing in on $6 trillion, is way more than the country's GDP. Ambani, Adani, Birla, Tata, and all of India's billionaires will draw their wealth mostly from it. Most of the rest of us 1.42 billion will contribute a humble share to the GDP.
How could a mythology like this, however romantic, find such currency 33 years after the 1991 reforms? This gives us the first trigger: That old, povertarian instincts are back, assailing the hearts and minds of the smartest.
The second is the steel industry doubling down on lobbying for even more duties on imports, making India's steel among the most expensive anywhere. The price is paid by the domestic user—you and me—who builds homes and buys automobiles; it's passed on to the gig worker's scooty, the farmer's tractor or plough, the kadhai (wok) and humble chamcha (spoon) in your kitchen. This, when micro, small, and medium enterprises are crying about steel prices driving them to bankruptcy, and when the bigger "boys," the automakers, whisper to you—looking left and right to make sure nobody is watching—about shipping containers sitting in our ports forever, awaiting clearance.
Denne historien er fra December 07, 2024-utgaven av Business Standard.
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Denne historien er fra December 07, 2024-utgaven av Business Standard.
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Gukesh draws against Liren in 13th game
Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh (pictured) tried his best but could not break past a resilient defending champion Ding Liren of China and had to settle for a draw after 68 moves in the 13th and penultimate game of the World Chess championship on Wednesday.
Indian tourist boom spurs revival in US hotel revenues
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First human gene therapy for Hemophilia A now in India
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Pollution levels drop across India as weather improves
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Willow sets the stage for AI's quantum leap
With Google announcing the milestone of Willow—a state-of-the-art quantum computing chip that can solve complex problems in under five minutes, a computation so complex it would have taken a supercomputer around 10 septillion years to complete—tech experts believe this breakthrough could impact artificial intelligence (AI), particularly by making it more accessible to the masses.
Content overload causing indigestion
PRASOON JOSHI (53) began as a writer in his teens, did an MBA and then got into advertising. From Daag Ache hain (Surf Excel) to Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola, his work shone with an Indianness that changed the way marketers spoke to consumers. His second foray into writing, as a lyricist (Taare Zameen Par, Delhi 6, etc), dialogue writer (Rang De Basanti) and then a scriptwriter (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) has been successful. In 2017, he became the head of the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC). In November this year, Joshi forayed into theatre, with Rajadhiraaj: Love. Life. Leela., a musical depicting the journey of Shri Krishna. In a video interview, Vanita Kohli-Khandekar spoke to Joshi about the play and other things. Edited excerpts:
STAR TREK
As Mercedes completes three decades in India, its three-pointed star sits atop the luxury table. What drives it?
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