India and the knowledge economy

Filed in archive Global Economy on November 2, 2003

The Technology Review has a nice article about competitive advantages for China and India in the race to close the gap in GDP between them and industrialized countries.

"In the knowledge economy, Thurow says, countries that wish to stay ahead must pay great attention to education. "Ask yourselves this question---30 or 50 years from now what job will an illiterate do? By that time you will have robots to do what an illiterate does now. Today, I can get a robot that can mow my lawn and does not cost more than an ordinary lawn mower. Very soon they will be cleaning the house and doing other household chores."

"Striking a cautionary note, Thurow says that India was "quasi-left out" of the global economy. Even the country's much vaunted success in the IT industry needs to be put in perspective, he says. India's software exports last year totaled around $10 billion while Microsoft alone was around $50 billion. If India does not carry its masses along with it, he says, it will not be able to succeed in the knowledge economy."

I really think this is to negative that India has now chance, but it must do more to bring competition into more sectors of its economy and raise the general level of education.