A Tale of Two Countries: Comparing India and Pakistan’s Economies

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``Life expectancy at birth is 62.6 years, the infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) is 69 and the adult literacy rate is 52.2%.
``
Just a minor addition though the author has clearly mentioned that these are 1997 data. The latest 2001 data indicates a gross literacy of 55.3% and a net literacy of 65.4%. The net literacy implies the literacy in the population aged 7 and above and is a better criteria to judge literacy. Following is a report on the 2001 census of India-

Source: http://arunmehta.freeyellow.com/page172.html

Ref. Godot`s post #9

I see exposing your factually wrong statements has touched a raw nerve and sent you into hysteria.

Seriously, grow up.

Cheers

Lucy

The article could have been better if there was more coverage on Pakistan`s economy. IMO, pakistan enjoyed better growth rates than India between 1955-1980. The authors could have discussed this phase of Pakistani economy in greater details providing an insight into its foundation, causes and why it proved to be unsustainable.

PS Godot, the author has merely stated a fact which is true. Now obviously there is no comparison between Germany and India on per capita, infrastructure or lawfulness of the society. But the gross domestic product(PPP) of India does exceed that of Germany by virtue of its humongous population. China, inspite of being no.2 in GDP, also can not compete against the western nations in terms of aforementioned criteria.

QuantumQuark, #6, Lucy, #7

Okay, okay...India is the best country on this planet...I wish to be living in that land of the free and home of the barve...a paradise on earth...a land of milk-n-honey...the most enlightened country...where everyone is really smart and tolerant of others to the the extreme...where fair and equal justice for all prevails...where everyone is equal regardless of their religion, race or ethnicity...where murder, killing, rape, arson, and discrimination in the name of religion (or even a caste) is never heard of...a country of ``great`` and ancient ``civilazation``...the country is paused to take over as the world leader...not only economically, but technologically as well...move over you, the US, the racist, intolerant country you...India will show the world what the words ``peace``, ``tolerance`` and ``justice`` really mean...those extremely super highways...from down south all the up to north...and east and west...that will be so much fun to be driving a Porsche on...so easy to buy there...and its autobahn would put Germany to shame...those HDTVs they make...man, they are awesome...their movies are work of art...the most enlightened and remarkable country...the histroy hasn`t seen a like of it...I see all those people yearning to be free lining up the Indian embassies around the world seeking entry to India...I don`t want to be left behind...I know in India no one ever goes hungry...where people count their blessings for living in India...

Me a clown? Yes, yes...I`m one...see my fat lips strechted from ear to ear...that`s when I`m thinking of India...the country I want to go after I die...forget that heaven God promises...for me that`s India...that`s where I want to go after I die...yes, I`m a clown...doesn`t my smile tell you that...it`s the same smile I see on the faces of all Indians who live in India...the smile I know that tells me that they live in total bliss...in a paradise...please, please, you Indians, let me go and live their...please, pretty please, let me live in that paradise...no one will even notice an ingnorant clown like me in that paradise of one billion very smart and totally content people...please, please, please...pretty please...I beg you...

The authors write:

[Health care, despite a large presence of public health care delivery systems, is largely in the hands of poorly equipped semi trained medical workers.]

Only if you take into account the practitioners of various indigenous systems of medicine like Ayurvedha, Siddha, Unani, etc. Otherwise, India graduates a lot of MBBSes who compete reasonably effectively in advanced countries such as the US and Europe. So, those who remain in India -- a vast majority of the MBBSes -- do provide allopathic medical care. They cannot be called semi-trained.

[In the initial years, there was a foreign exchange shortage and this had to be successfully managed.]

Not true at all. At Independence, India was owed a huge debt by UK on account of WWII. Forex was plentiful and cheap. Controls over forex were introduced only in 1962 after the border war with China. Even then, the rupee traded at about Rs. 5 to a dollar. As is typical, Indians mismanaged their forex reserves so that India ended up with not much in hand by the 1980s.

[Self-reliance in food was an issue and beginning with the end of the 1960s, the Green Revolution (with an emphasis on hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizers and farm mechanization) gradually transformed India from a country that imported food to one that occasionally exports food.]

Not occasionally. India is the second largest exporter of rice and is beginning to make a dent in the wheat export market. Agricultural exports have exceeded $1 billion in recent years.

[However, the Green Revolution is still limited to some States (Western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana) and agricultural productivity levels are still low. The problem is to extend the Green Revolution to other States and increase productivity, perhaps with the use of biotechnology.]

I think the authors haven`t travelled south to witness the green revolution in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu or in Gujarat or Maharashtra. Enough of the Indian states have surplus food and there is talk of abolishing food zones that prop up prices artificially in deficit states. Already, farmers are complaining that procurement prices are not high enough yet the nation`s warehouses are bulging with 40 million tonnes of food.

Are there starvation deaths? Yes. There is no welfare system by which the poor can get free food as in the US or Europe. But that doesn`t mean that the rats aren`t eating better at the warehouses.

Dear Mr Godot,

Refer Reply# 2

Godot writes: ``3. Authors are wearing deep-pink glasses when viewing Indian economy. Everything looks rosy. With Indian PPP of US$ 2,390 it is fourth largest economy in the world! This is a joke!``

Your assessment of the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is ignorant at best. PPP is indeed a better indicator than pure dollar figures. It takes into account what people can buy locally. In lamer words it judges the income of a person in India (or Algeria) based on the price of potatoes, cars, gasoline in India (or Algeria) Vs in USA. This is an internationally accepted standard in economics. As for India being the PPP 4th largest economy, check out the Economist magazine`s Yearly fact book, it has been that way for the last few years when India`s PPP GDP overtook Germany.

Also support your allegations of plagiarism by citing where it was copied from. Without any proof, it`s your reply that has no credibility or rather the ``joke``.


QuantumQuark

Ref.: Godot`s post


``With Indian PPP of US$ 2,390 it is fourth largest economy in the world! This is a joke!``

It is always wise to think before speaking so you don`t make a fool of yourself like you just did. You don`t have to believe these authors. Just go read the World Bank`s latest reports. The link is provided below for your convenience. In case you have trouble reading, the data is in the 8th column from the left. You can scroll up and down to your heart`s content and check the data for every country to convince yourself that India is indeed the 4th largest. How does it feel to be a clown? ;)

http://www.worldbank.org/data/wdi2002/tables/table1-1.pdf

Cheers,

Lucy

If you are sincere in our intentions, please do not add
sentences like:

[quote]
But then Kargil happened and ruined relations between the two countries.
[end-quote]

Is Kargil some kind of disease like flu that just ``happened``? Who made Kargil happen? Isn`t it amazing that the Indian PM visited Lahore, visited Jinnah`s Mazar (cost poor ABP plenty to do that), talked some practical ways to go forward AND surprise !!! There was an invasion of India ! Planned by the brave commando general ``all tactics, no strategy`` Musharraf himself!

Heh, Heh,...

BTW, I assure you India and Pakistan do not have a common fate or future. They may have a common past and share
some common culture. Their futures are quite distinct, as distinct as
Mexico and the USA.

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Pakistani economy can catch up and surpass Indian in a hurry.
All Pakistan need is a good year of 25 percent growth rate and 2 percent decline in population. With Musharraf at the helm and prayers from MMA (shias beware), nothing is impossible
or
Pakistanis stop hajj, umra and once-a-year goat/ sheep killing for 5 years.
BIG DEAL

A few observations about this article:

1. Very poorly written

2. This is outright plagiarism, meaning, apart from a few sentences (and those few sentences are pretty bad,) the rest of the article is stolen from other journals, mainly Indian (one can tell from the bias.) The authors don’t know how to even plagiarize well! The stolen paragraphs are entirely disconnected from the preceding ones. This is quite sad considering two people worked on it. They say two heads are better than one. In this case it is worse than half!

3. Authors are wearing deep-pink glasses when viewing Indian economy. Everything looks rosy. With Indian PPP of US$ 2,390 it is fourth largest economy in the world! This is a joke!

4. Authors are wearing glasses fit for man suffering from severe case of stigmatism when it comes to viewing Pakistan’s economy; they can’t even see straight!

5. Authors have no clue what they are talking about. They don’t know anything about economics and don’t know how to read economic indicators and make an objective observation.

6. Reading this article is a total waste of time.

7. This article belongs in the trash can, not on Chowk.

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