The problem for India et. al. in the self-respect category with respect to the US in this regard is the same as I heard many years ago about health care.

The US is #1---and there is no #2.

We are so far ahead of everybody else in so many things that they barely count. Just like Tony Blair realized back in the early stages of the WOT battlefield, when Bush told him, "If you can't send troops, don't worry---we can get along as well without them as with them."

Not that we won't welcome partners, of course.

After their $*)(*(%up in Basra, they should have stayed home.

Via Lucianne:

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=88747

Don’t mis-underestimate Dubya


The Bush family has an uncanny knack of knowing where the future will happen, says Jaithirth Rao

As we prepare to welcome the leader of the world’s most powerful republic, it behooves us to make sure that we grapple with facts, not just biased opinions. It is unfortunate that so much of the information about the US is derived by our elites from the eastern seaboard, Left-leaning media who are on the opposite side of the American political spectrum from George W. Bush and who therefore have a vested interest in opposing and disparaging him....

We are so far ahead of everybody else in so many things that they barely count.

According to Indian-raised Sala Kannan, via The Daily Duck:

There will be 628 million middle-class Indians by 2015.

According to a McKinsey report, the Indian food industry has grown faster than the information technology industry over the last 10 years. India's fast-food industry is growing by 40% a year, and is expected to generate over a billion dollars in sales in 2006.

Since America rules the fast-food game, having a consumer market of 600 million modestly-well-off people become increasingly desirous of fast-food seems like a HUGE opportunity for American companies - if they execute properly. More Sala Kannan:

McDonald's currently has 58 restaurants in India, and McDonald's revenue in India has grown a whopping 50% annually since 1997. How does McDonald's, the world's largest BEEF-based food chain, thrive and flourish in cow-revering, vegetarian India?

Enter the Maharaja Mac. A 100% ground lamb burger served with lettuce, tomatoes, special sauce, cheese, onion and pickles on a sesame bun. Other items include the Chicken Maharaja Mac, the McVeggie and the McAloo Tikki (with potatoes). The vegetarian items are advertised with a "100% pure veg" stamp on them.

Seventy-five percent of the McDonald's menu in India is Indianized. In 2001, McDonald's also introduced the Veg Surprise burger, a veggie burger with Indian spices. Not surprisingly, sales volume shot up 40%.

Another example of how Indians are beginning to have a greater global impact is the price of gold. In 2005, Indian demand for gold jewelry was so great that it pushed the world price above $ 500/oz.

Further, it seems extremely likely that Bollywood will compete globally with Hollywood in the coming decades, to supply massively lucrative entertainment to an increasingly idle advanced-nation population.

Whatever India's shortcomings are, they are democratically organized, and there is at least a segment of Indian society that's forward looking, modern, and technologically-oriented.

If they can avoid having a nuclear war with Pakistan or China, a robust, creative, wealthy, technologically-advanced, friendly nation of a billion people will be a major driver for the benefit of humanity in general, and the U.S. in particular.

Think Japan times five.

It remains to be seen if India will become an R & D powerhouse, but simply by providing massive quantities of capable productive capacity, along with an equally massive consumer market, India could stimulate more and faster innovation in every dynamic nation, as well as increased prosperity in nations with substantial international trade activity.

Posted by: Michael Herdegen at March 1, 2006 1:08 AM

We are so far ahead of everybody else in so many things that they barely count.

According to Indian-raised Sala Kannan, via The Daily Duck:

There will be 628 million middle-class Indians by 2015. According to a McKinsey report, the Indian food industry has grown faster than the information technology industry over the last 10 years. India's fast-food industry is growing by 40% a year, and is expected to generate over a billion dollars in sales in 2006.

Since America rules the fast-food game, having a consumer market of 600 million modestly-well-off people become increasingly desirous of fast-food seems like a HUGE opportunity for American companies - if they execute properly. More Sala Kannan:

McDonald's currently has 58 restaurants in India, and McDonald's revenue in India has grown a whopping 50% annually since 1997. How does McDonald's, the world's largest BEEF-based food chain, thrive and flourish in cow-revering, vegetarian India?

Enter the Maharaja Mac. A 100% ground lamb burger served with lettuce, tomatoes, special sauce, cheese, onion and pickles on a sesame bun. Other items include the Chicken Maharaja Mac, the McVeggie and the McAloo Tikki (with potatoes). The vegetarian items are advertised with a "100% pure veg" stamp on them.

Seventy-five percent of the McDonald's menu in India is Indianized. In 2001, McDonald's also introduced the Veg Surprise burger, a veggie burger with Indian spices. Not surprisingly, sales volume shot up 40%.

Another example of how Indians are beginning to have a greater global impact is the price of gold. In 2005, Indian demand for gold jewelry was so great that it pushed the world price above $ 500/oz.

Further, it seems extremely likely that Bollywood will compete globally with Hollywood in the coming decades, to supply massively lucrative entertainment to an increasingly idle advanced-nation population.

Whatever India's shortcomings are, they are democratically organized, and there is at least a segment of Indian society that's forward looking, modern, and technologically-oriented.

If they can avoid having a nuclear war with Pakistan or China, a robust, creative, wealthy, technologically-advanced, friendly nation of a billion people will be a major driver for the benefit of humanity in general, and the U.S. in particular.

Think Japan times five.

It remains to be seen if India will become an R & D powerhouse, but simply by providing massive quantities of capable productive capacity, along with an equally massive consumer market, India could stimulate more and faster innovation in every dynamic nation, as well as increased prosperity in nations with substantial international trade activity.

Posted by: Michael Herdegen at March 1, 2006 1:17 AM

There is going to be a lot of growth for India, but given the differences in purchasing power between the Indian middle-class and the Japanese middle-class (not to mention the American middle-class), it is a little early to proclaim it a new gold-mine.

There is also LOT of graft, corruption and bureaucratic foot-dragging that needs to be tackled before the country becomes a serious economic contender. Two-thirds of the population is still rural and hasn't had an appreciable change in living standards . Plus another factor that tends to get ignored is that caste antagonisms will bound to be inflamed as wealth percolates throughout society.

Bollywood isn't going to compete with Hollywood anytime soon. US films have a genuine global audience. Indian films only appeal to Indians, Pakistanis etc.

As someone commented here not long ago, even though India or other countries like China catch up to where we are now by 2015 or 2050, we'll be that much further along by then.

We can only falter if the nay-sayers resume power. Stay the course and there's nothing but fair winds ahead.

China and India won't exist by 2050.

oj:

What's going to do in India ?

Ali:

It's true that Bollywood isn't ready for prime-time, but they'll get better.

One of the characteristics of a disruptive competitor is that its product is barely acceptable, and the more established organizations laugh it off...
But it's also cheap, and consumers see value.

Ten or twenty years later, the "barely acceptable" upstart is the industry standard, after many quality upgrades along the way, of course.

In America in the 50s, few dreamed that fast-food would seriously challenge sit-down restaurants, much less dominate the dining industry - but here we are.
Hollywood would be very smart to form Bollywood alliences and business partnerships now; but I doubt that they will.

Posted by: Michael Herdegen at March 1, 2006 10:13 AM

Michael:

There is no India. It's a fiction created by the British.

oj:

India's about as likely to break up into smaller states as the US is. Regional loyalties in no way compare to the strength of nationalism and pride in the country as a whole. The railways brought by the British fostered a sense of unity that endure to this day.

Michael:

Sub-continental tastes in movies is very, very different, sufficient to nullify any real crossover appeal. Look at how often Western audiences take to Japanese, Korean, Chinese and assorted European movies and actors. Akira, Spirited Away, Hard Boiled, Ong Bak, Seven Samurai, Oldboy, Wallace & Gromit, Jackie Chan, Godzilla, Amelie, Hero etc. all made substantial commercial and cultural splashes beyond their home market.

You can't say the same about any Indian movie, even on the art-house circuit since the tastes of the domestic audience overwhelmingly tends towards fluffy romances with a few memorable musical numbers.

The value proposition doesn't extend very well to entertainment if prospective customers aren't interested in the product no matter how cheap it is. And would it be much cheaper? The purchase price of domestic US DVD hits tend to be cheaper than foreign movies as American studios typically produce them in much larger runs.

Ali:

The US will too, especially as we get up around 500 million people.

Michael: Never bet against anything that let's us spend more time in our cars.

Where are they going? If you mean they'll break up into smaller states, that may happen, but don't you think they would be smart enough to follow our model and become the United States of China and/or India. Balkanization as a model hasn't worked out very well.

erp:

No, we're unique, plus it would be stupid for them to try and maintain states of a billion people. We're the only successful large country.