India - agiant economic mediocrity?
THE Economist in its 24th May 2014 edition has Narendra Modi on its cover page. The magazine says, "India, a giant economic mediocrity, is cursed by having too many economists. Its outgoing prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has a doctorate from Oxford, ran the central bank in the 1980sand led the liberalisation programme that India put in place in 1991 after a currency crisis. Yet as Prime Minister, Mr Singh had little grip or public support, serving at the pleasure of Sonia Gandhi, the populist leader of the Congress party.
Having run Gujarat well, Mr Modi now faces the far harder task of running India. He has big advantages-administrative competence, control over his party and a majority in Parliament-that should ease decision-making.
Sitting at his desk in Gujarat, Mr Modi said that when he first took charge of the state's economy, "I thought: the sky is the limit." A similar ambition today would serve India well."