An update on my recent post, courtesy of my mom who provides me a steady stream of articles on India in the New York Times. Somehow I decided to read this one, on the U.S. Treasury secretary’s visit to India:
Mr. Geithner has his work cut out for him, economists and policy analysts in both India and the United States say. Reaching economic agreements between the two countries has traditionally been an arduous task.
“On principle, they both agree on everything,” said Jahangir Aziz, chief India economist at J. P. Morgan in Mumbai. “It always comes down to the nitty-gritty and that’s where things get stuck. Part of the problem is neither of them wants to give the other side an inch.”
Shouldn’t the US go a little easier on India, given the size of its market?
It took nearly 20 years for the United States to lift a ban on imports of Indian mangoes, for example, and a deal to allow energy-strapped India access to American nuclear technology, agreed to in principle four years ago, still has not cleared all the legal hurdles that would let American companies sign contracts here. The two countries remain far apart on American farm subsidies and India’s unwillingness to open its markets to foreign farmers, because they both want to protect their agricultural sectors. The countries’ disagreements there helped to scuttle global trade negotiations in 2008.
A funny & relevant tweet from Sadhguru’s public talk yesterday:
When you start thinking only I am right and everybody else is wrong, this is the first step towards madness.
Surely the US qualifies?
Related posts:
