Arguably, China’s successful embrace of one form of capitalism (“to get
rich is glorious”) in 1978 ultimately played a role in steering India’s
path of economic reform. Since then, China has often served as a
benchmark for judging India’s progress, because it is the only other
country that matches India in population size. Sorting out the lessons
from China’s experience is always useful, beyond the comparison of the
countries’ planning exercises, the subject of my last column.
What should India learn from China, and what should it not?
One should start by rejecting the political values of China’s
regime. Suppressing the free expression of ideas, or the exercise of
political voice, is not necessary for economic development, or even for
political stability. India’s previous flirtations with such suppression
were never associated with economic progress, and recent attempts to
impose broad censorship of the internet are indicators of insecurity of
the political elite, and nothing more. The notion that China’s
authoritarianism has virtues (often part of the “Asian values” school of
thought) to be copied by India must be totally rejected. Democracy is
not incompatible with inclusive economic development.
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