There was a time, not long back, when the ‘American Dream' was shared not only by Americans but just as fervently by many ambitious students back here in India too. Getting an MBA from a good university abroad and using that as a starting point to get a job in that country was the norm. Well, that dream seems to have been shattered. And the sorry state of the US is now forcing many into realising the potential back here in India. An Economic Times report gives some perspective on the situation. According to a University of California study that surveyed 1,224 foreign nationals from India, China and Western Europe, almost 86% Indian students and 74% of Chinese students believed their home countries' economies will grow faster in the future than they have in the past decade. And with that, many students are either looking homewards, or have already come back to India. Looks like India may not have to contend with a brain drain problem again for a long time to come.
It is important to look at the holistic picture and have an individual opinion rather than get swayed away by the public consensus. This is the view of the man who pioneered the retailing boom in India - Mr. Kishore Biyani, the founder of India’s largest retailing company - Pantaloon. In an article in the Wall street Journal, Mr. Biyani wrote, "Almost daily doses of bad news on television screens and newspapers have possibly done as much damage to the economy as the events on either side of the Atlantic." I completely agree with him. Mr. Biyani’s predicament is based on the fact that an overwhelming majority of Indian consumers are self-employed, who can neither get laid off nor can have pay cuts. Consider some statistics he has provided. The share of the national income represented by proprietor-run concerns and partnerships is 35%. The share of companies is around 15%, government around 25%, and agriculture around 25%. Combine agriculture and the self-employed in industry a...
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