Wolf on a Waking Giant

Martin Wolf is always eminently readable on globalisation. His recent book ‘Why Globalisation Works’ is widely regarded as one of the most complete and authoritative jusifications for the current wave of globalisation. Martin is on good form in a special report in the Financial Times this week on India and Globalisation.

He writes

‘India is not China. Its development path has been very different and, so far at least, its global impact far smaller. But it is now more open to the world economy than at any time in its post-independence history and more economically dynamic than ever before. India’s decision in the early 1990s to embrace the world economy, as part of a wider embrace of the market economy, has led to an accelerating opening up of its economy. While its impact on the world is still relatively modest, it will continue to grow.The impact on India itself is less modest and growing fast. Both sides – India and the world – will need to get used to the experience: they will grow much closer together in the years ahead.’

At the heart of the article is a neat comparison and contrast between the economies of China and India in terms of

Exports of merchandise products Exports and imports as a share of national income - a guide to trade openness The scale of current account surpluses and foreign exchange reserves Inflows and outflows of foreign direct investment Control of exchange rates

Read the rest of his article here