| Gzu521.com我的学习网 |
|
the world economy 世界经济 india overheats 印度经济过热 ,ML"C-dWQ#C : [ 本 资 料 来 源 于 贵 州 学 习 网 外语园地口译笔译 http://Www.gzU521.com ] ,ML"C-dWQ#C : feb 1st 2007 india cannot run as fast as china without further reform the indian tiger is on the prowl[1]. (1)this week, in an apt piece of symbolism, tata steel, which dates back to the days of the raj, leapt into the league of top producers when it bought britain's corus, which includes the steelmaking remnants of the old imperial power. nor is tata alone: younger indian companies such as infosys and wipro are storming international markets. meanwhile, the world's business people and investors queue up to lavish money on india's talented engineers and computer scientists, the roar from delhi is echoing across asia. after peevish[2] years cast as china's underperforming neighbour, the huntress is now in hot pursuit. over the past year the indian economy has grown by an impressive 9.2%, not far behind china's 10.4%. at some point this year india's growth rate could even outpace china's; and if you measure things by purchasing power parity, india should soon overtake japan and BECome the third-biggest economy, behind only america and china. (2)no wonder an increasing number of indian businessmen, policymakers and economists are basking[3] in the belief that their country is burning bright having at last broken free of its bureaucratic cage. an economy once famous for the “hindu rate of growth”, of 3% a year, was opened up by the reforms of the 1990s, many of them pushed through by the man who is now prime minister, manmohan singh. his government's latest five-year plan assumes that india can sustain average growth of 9%. who can doubt “incredible india”, to borrow the slogan of its tourism campaign? tweaking the long tail 揪住“长尾巴” (3)fast growth is essential to pull millions of indians out of poverty, so it is sad to pour cold water on this story. but that is precisely what is needed when there are so many alarming signs of overheating. across india prices are rising fast, factories are at full capacity, loans are piling up. yes, the economic reforms of the early 1990s spurred competition, forced firms to become more productive and boosted india's trend—or sustainable—rate of growth. but the problem is that this new speed limit is almost certainly lower than the government's one. historic data would suggest a figure not much above 7%—well below china's 9-10%. when you mention overheating, many analysts point towards china. yet india displays far more symptoms of the disease. inflation has risen to 6-7% (compared with 2.8% in china); a record 99% of indian firms report that they are operating above their optimal capacity; and credit is expanding at an annual rate of 30%, twice as fast as in china. unlike china, india also has a widening current-account deficit—a classic sign of overheating, as domestic output fails to keep pace with surging demand. and if you are looking for a stockmarket bubble, indian share prices have risen more than four-fold over the past four years, far more than in china. if something is not done, then a hard landing will become inevitable. the reserve bank of india has been too timid in cooling down domestic demand: although one interest rate was raised this week by a quarter point, the overall rise in rates over the past two and a half years has not even kept up with consumer-price inflation. but the main focus of the government's attention should be on supply—and dismantling[4] the many barriers that keep its speed limit below china's. |
责任编辑:gzu521