Re: India, Productivity, and Tropical Climes

[Enzo Michelangeli <enzo@ima.com>]

On Tue, 13 Aug 1996, James A. Donald wrote:

> At 11:31 PM 8/13/96 +0600, Arun Mehta wrote:
> > As regards IBM, its agreement with the government of India, under
> > which it was allowed to operate in the country, stipulated that
> > it would produce here, and transfer some technology. Instead, as
> > the government found, all it did was sell time on second-hand
> > computers (1401's as I recall, and this was mid  to late '70s).
> > IBM was asked to either dilute, or live up to its original
> > agreement, which it wasn't prepared to do, so it left.
> 
> Every single foreign computer company left during roughly the same 
> period, as did almost all foreign companies and anybody who had a choice.
> 
> The reasons generally given by those who left, for this mass exodus, 
> which eventually sent the government into insolvency, is that Indian 
> officials were arrogant, rude, dishonest, corrupt, continually broke 
> contracts and agreements, and attempted to exercise direct power over 
> everyone and everything.

Not only: until at least five or six years ago, the trade unions had
forced limits to the yearly increase in number of computers per year in
the banking sector (if I remember well, 2% a year for private institutions
and 1% for government owned). The government duly obliged, of course.

Tropical climate or "corporate greed" has nothing to do with inefficiency
and poverty: just compare the cases of Hong Kong or Singapore.
Rather, corrupt and populistic governments are the key factor.

Enzo