… to the highest bidder ? Is the high rate of economic growth being achieved by a larger and larger concentration of wealth in fewer hands ? or is there indeed a an internal growth in productivity and wealth that is spreading through our nation……

.. certainly a huge boom in real estate and the unimaginable value of the deals being made would suggest the earlier. Sometimes the equation is pretty simple. Borrow from the small saver, and lend to the big boys. The cream in valuation is skimmed off then by the big boys. The small saver continues to get his/her small return at bank rates, but the inflation in values creates an ever increasing gap.
On the other hand i see young middle class people being upwardly mobile. Call centers have pushed salaries way up in urban areas. Consumerism is on the rise. People that never dreamed of having a phone in their life times now carry cell phones. Their is a migration of highly skilled people back to India and there is more and more optimism in the investment community.
Optimism is ultimately a driver of economic growth and the wealth of a nation. It creates hope, which in turn creates aspiration. So the relavent question then becomes : Is there at least a ‘trickle down effect’ in hope and optimism ? Even if the trickle down is confined largely to a smaller proportion of our people. Given that the creation of optimism and hope backfires if not met by opportunity.
The worst thing we could do right now is go the way of Russia. Where all the resources of the country were sold cheaply to those that could scramble into the power equation. China on the other hand seems to be trying to create wealth for it’s people on a more equitable basis. Not that anything will ever be completely equitable.
It is also true that the greatest and the most stable economic wealth comes when b consumption/savings and investment are mostly internally generated. A huge reliance on exports and inward investment leaves an economy very vulnerable.
So, which way are we going and where lies the the future of India ?
Shekhar