Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
Author and investor Ruchir Sharma, in his latest book 'The Ten Rules of Successful Nation', talks about what sets a successful country apart. While it was written during the pre-pandemic days, it offers insights into what countries must do to evolve a strategy for the post-coronavirus world.
Speaking to The Quint’s Editorial Director Sanjay Pugalia, Sharma says that countries have to learn from the ‘four Ds’ on dealing with a crisis such as this.
“The four rules that become particular in the post pandemic world are De-globalisation, Digitisation, Debt and Deftness of the State in handling the crisis response,” Sharma said.
‘India Both Statist & Socialist’
Rating Indian policy-makers as both Statist and socialist, Sharma said that India lacks a “serious right-wing party.”
“The Indian political class is both Statist and socialist. For example, in India there is no serious right-wing party from an economic perspective. Even if you look at the BJP, the right leaning has to do with cultural aspects and social issues but when it comes to economics, it is not a free-market party.”Ruchir Sharma
He added that this was witnessed this during lockdown as well – the tendency to control.
“The tendency to control and the tendency to whip out orders, and treat people as subjects, and that's true among the local supremos as well and not just the Centre,” said Sharma.
Good Billionaire, Bad Billionaire
When asked about the concentration of wealth, Sharma said that there are two instances – ‘good’ billionaires are good for the country’s economy and ‘bad’ billionaires are simply bad.
“When the attitude towards wealth creation turns negative, that can be terrible for a country... Then it means political leaders will go after the wealth creators, the conditions are not there for new wealth creation to emerge. When billionaires are coming up, it is good for country’s economic growth and when ‘bad’ billionaires are coming up, it is not.”Ruchir Sharma
Then, what about the average investor?
“A lot of emerging markets have been beaten down and are cheap. In terms of dollars, the Indian stock market today is still lower than where it was in 2007. There are a lot of companies with investment potential out there and we need to be more wide-eyed about this,” Sharma answers.
Biden Or Tump? Who Will Win On 3 November?
As someone who is currently residing in the United States and has chased almost every Indian election for the last 25 years, who does he think will win the 2020 Presidential Elections?
The answer, he says, lies in the betting market.
“The betting markets suggest that Biden has the edge and the betting market is what I consider to be most reliable.”Ruchir Sharma
What about the Bihar Assembly elections, which are scheduled to happen at the same time?
“The arithmetic seems to suggest that it is a relatively one-sided contest,” he chuckles.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)