Effect Of Western Culture On Indian Youth

• How there is head and tail for a coin, there is both positive and negative impact of western culture on India and especially on Indian youth,

  In past in India men were our traditional dresses, but now it is entirely changed, now the Indian youth moving with jeans, t-shirts, minis, etc., here we can proud of that western culture, it bringing us with the fast moving world.

  But when we consider the pubs, it is the thing to be strictly punished. In pubs both men and women are in drastic stage, by taking drugs, it should be punished. And we need to felt sorry for that.

  And there r many things to be taken from the western culture.

• THERE HAS BEEN AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EFFECT OF WESTERN CULTURE ON US. IT CAN BE EASILY FELT BY THE FOOD, ATTIRE AND WAY OF LIVING OF CITIZENS.SPECIALLY ON DRESSES IT HAS MADE ADVERSE EFFECTS. SO IT IS NOT GOOD FOR OUR CULTURE.OUR YOUNG GIRLS ARE WEARING SKIRTS, MICROS, AND MINIS ETC. WHICH EXCITES THE BOYS LEADING TO SOME SERIOUS CRIMES SUCH AS RAPE ETC. BUT ON THE FLIPPER SIDE THE WAYS OF LIVING HAS BEEN GREATLY ENHANCED WHICH IS GOOD FOR SUCCESS AND GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY AND HELPFUL FOR IT IN HEADING TOWARDS SUPER POWER AHEAD OF USA. SO I FEEL THAT IT HAS BOTH GOOD AND BAD EFFECTS

I Strongly believe that there is a substantial influence of western culture on Indian youths. Mere mention of the word 'India' signifies a place of cultural heritage as well as diversity. But the cultural legacy that we are showing to the whole world is becoming a thing








































of history in metropolitan cities.

• Hello

  Effect Of Western Culture On Indian Youth

  Well World is changing, because of lot of developments in various sectors like IT, MANUFACTURING, Revolution of E COMMERCE and many more ... have brought the ties between various nations/ people and their cultures to get mixed with each other. WELL I WOULD TAKE A BIASED OPINION IN THIS.

  Lets take example of USA. Well Indians are crazy of adopting Western Culture LIKE DRESS CODE, MUSIC, HABITS, IMPORTING FOREIGN GOODS. What not we feel so attracted to all those. But by adopting we dint loose our traditions and culture; we tend to blend both of them.
  

  It all depends on person likes and dislikes, how he /she will behave according to situations. As our friend PAVANI has mentioned like PUBS are to be strictly banned. Well that cant is possible realistically. If an individual decides what is good/bad for them every person can be in control ...rite

  I finally stress points like No matter people adopt what ever the culture ... They shud be in the limits and act rationally according to the situations. We jus cant stop/Ban things by considering it to be western /eastern. We need to analyze what benefits we get and try to choose.options. Since what all we want is PROGRESS/DEVELOPMENT ultimately to our nation. So IT’S EVERY PERSONS RESPONSIBILY TO CONTRIBUTE HIS/HER PART TO IT.

• There is great impact of foreign culture on youth

  We Indians have changed a lot in all aspects such as food, clothing, education etc. The foreign culture has influenced us to a great extent that today we especially youth give first importance to all foreign goods like T.V, cars, dresses, food any many things. We are not able to realize the simple fact that self-respect comes with self-reliance.

  But why this impact of foreign culture doesn’t show up when it comes to certain aspects like keeping the surroundings clean. We all know that in US people will be fined if they throw unnecessary garbage on roads. We respect their rules and regulations when we are in US. But more then 90% for us doesn’t care about cleanliness when it comes to Indian roads.

  That clearly indicates we are not giving that much respect to our country as we respect others.

  Another important thing is "IS their any country were dowry system is there?”. Why shouldn't that be implemented here also? Daily we read at least one news on "harassments for the sake of dowry" And people are even killing them for the sake of money. The so-called foreign cultures will never influence us in such aspects.

  I feel there are many advantages if we grasp the good instead of bad from them. As our friends said it merely depends on our hands and especially on our youth.

A very good evening to all here

In my opinion western culture has changed the face of Indian youth in the recent years. Today’s is a world of globalization and frequent change and the top among then being Indian youth as youth are always lingering with that emery and attitude they r most viable species to change and western culture have effected them in most of ways...it has changed their way of speaking, their mentality towards life, their general outlook, their personality and even petty issues like their way of dressing up and all.and to the mosst the change is of the western level. Sometimes acceptable and sometimes not acceptable in Indian society but most of the times not...it all depends...they have grown more free, family seems like a tie to one...they want to be independent want to have a life of their own where they are the masters, they ant to change the world at a stench...which is something not possible and India which has been stagnant has taken these changes as something against it's rich culture. Somewhere it's true...we are earth people. And may not be able to breathe properly in air for long. So we need to be attached to our roots...and these roots have started losing it’s grip. Today...so as I said somewhere its rgt somewhere wrong.... so its not like that western is all about bad they are better then us...and of course this is where the difference btw developing and developed country exists.so if we want to follow then we must follow them about their goods...their way of working, their professionalism, their fgt towards cleanliness.... this is something worth learning from them. And it will further help us to improve in our own way...so copying the bad things of west will lead us nowhere...today's youth is running after west. Is likely to break all the ties at once but he doesn’t knew...the rich culture our country holds.... we are having lots a good things...so we don’t need running after anyone the only thing is...........the only thing we need is to improve in certain way. And our youth has the capability to do that. The need is to channels their energy in right direction...coz they are imp 2 our country n we need them. As citizens....

• Yah, the effect of western culture has changed Indian youth a lot. It has its own positive & negative side. To live in this completive world we have to make our self compatible to adopt the changing life style if it seems to be very comfortable.

  The effect of Western culture in Indian youth can be seen in most of the actives as dressing, food habits, the way of moving with others and even western dance has gained its popularity among Indian youth.

  We people usually underestimate our country and overestimate foreign countries. Usually we prefer to buy foreign products from perfume to car bcos we think those products were more quality than ours. There is something to learn from the foreigners as keeping the environment clean & not to throw the waste on the roadside. But we Indians follow these rules & regulations in their country but forget to implement in our country.

  And in this mechanical world we r slowly forgetting our traditional culture which may not be known to our future generation.
  
  So, it is in the hand of Indian youth to suck only the needed things from the western culture and leave the waste that is not needed

Should the public sector be privatized?

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Yes of course privatization of public sectors leads to some healthy changes in an org. b's when you take public sectors u can find some slackness (or a little bit) delay in their services. But in case of private since service is there first and foremost duty they act rapidly.

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Privatization of public sector. Lot depends of which sector we are talking about. Let me clarify few doubts in the primary stage. Can we expect all private hospitals in our cities in our town which do not have an entry for poor people, can we have only private sector telephone companies, can we have private companies have complete control on oil reserves, can we have all transport be provided by private sector and RTC vanishes, can we expect an private sector to take care of our defense. In the same way we cant expect the government to set up an IT industry on its own, we cant expect them to handle all the load of flight transport. My point over here is both are not mutually exclusive. We need to accept the fact that both are here to stay and we cannot make it without one. They do have their importance and we need to deal this issue according to the context.

There are some strategic sectors, which need to be under control of Indian government like oil/gas sector. The subsidy we enjoy will be never provided by a private sector. The government in this case helps its citizens to a great extent and making them available to its citizens. The ration card system is a great boon to the poor. Coming to some sectors like steel and mobile where both are present and a healthy competition among them always benefits the customers. It is also a point to be noted that Government itself cannot take th
e complete load just like it cant take the load of all flight customers where private sector is playing its helping role. Then there is education sector, which also has good competition with CBSE matching with any education system of either state syllabus or the schools coming up with their own syllabus. The public transport sector too is a mix of public and private and here you can see a striking difference. You can easily differentiate the profit motive of private personal whose salaries depend on the profit to their owner. In autos you can see some 6-8 people are dumped then starts the engine. I do accept that some services are best in private sector as they fear their job loss and their owners do get the best out of them by making them to work more no. Of hours.

The lazy mindset of some public sector could be taken into account to convert it to a private sector. I would like to suggest that counseling sessions for these to have a better future by working for the organization would help it to grow better and be under the public sector umbrella. We can take some examples by some of our previous strategies, which helped us to renovate dull companies, which lacked in performance. If a private individual is going to buy the company and could change its fortunes, why can't the public government do it? It can. Running away from a trouble is not a solution. Facing it head-on will produce better results.

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I totally agree with Mr.ssrkraju.... As he said it depends on which sector we are talking about. And both have a different importance of their own. Privatization has its own proms and public sector have their own. I think both needs to be there as far today’s development is concerned.

Taking the view it is right that the work at public sectors is not working the way it should. But if everyone understands the responsibilities then it can also work the same way as private sectors. Again I think for some sectors it is ok otherwise it should be done by the respected ones itself...

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WELL SIR,YOUR COMMENT ON PRIVATE AS WELL AS ON PUBLIC SECTER IS GOOD ENOUGH BUT IT WILL BE MORE BENEFICIAL IF U ADD SOME DATA MATERIALS.I AM FULLY AGREE WITH UR POINT THAT BEFORE TALKING ABOUT PRIVATIZATION THE VERY FIRST THING WE SHOULD DISCUSS IS THE SECTORS WE ARE GOING TO DEAL WITH.AS OFFCOURSE ALL THE SECTORS CAN'T BE PRIVATIZED AS IT WOULDN'T BE A SAFE DEAL.

• hi Privtation.....its sound very attractive.bt in India if you privtatise thn you hv to make all ppl employed with good salary.Bt inIndia its tk time or nt going to b hapn.if all public sector b privatise thn autimatically theafting,murder corpuction e.t.c will increase. n i dont thnk ppl want this.
• Hii, everyone, as my friend ssrkraju has said can v have private telecom companies n all n all, i would like to inform u Relience is private company recently Mr. Mukesh Ambani has established a petrochemical plant which is the second largest plant in the world.......n nt dat much only he also steped into a vegetable market....u must b aware wid the fact n figures how the price of petrol is increasing under goverment but Relience petrol pumps are providing petrols on much cheaper rate......Mukesh has said when he wz there in Bang. on opening of vegetable mall there he said...vegetable rates r Fluctuating now a days bt it will not make any difference to this mall...here price will be same in all the situations.... now my point is nowa days private companies r providing much more facilities as compared to govermental
• i am fully agree with Mr. tehzeeb, there should be privatization in public sector,if we talk about the current scenario all the private companies count the value of money and time,while in public sector people are lazy(but they have good knowledge),they dont want to utilize the time and money. only privatization can change there mindset if we talk about the poor people,there are lots of hospitals and social organizations which provide help to these people In crux privatization is the best way for countries growth
• Well friends, I think that selected public sectors should be privatized. The major sectors like railways, oil& natural gas, mining etc. should be kept public. This is because these sectors belong equally to all citizen of India,because they use the natural resources of India, over which every citizen has equal right. Private sectors are primarily driven by profit motive. They may not think of public welfare. Second thing is that , if all the public sectors are privatized , then we must see that market forces keep the price affordable.We must also ensure that monopoly doesn't occur. Finally, I think that from economically well settled citizen's point of view,privatization should take place. Because he may get better services. But seeing from poor citizen's point of view, he has public sector services as last ray of hope(e.g. hospitals, education,ration, etc.) Majority of indian population(30-40%) belongs to below poverty line.So, in that way, I think that at present time, not all public sectors should be privatized.
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well i think privitazation is definetly gonna help us in boomin up with the salary system n will improve the standars of living . but we should not forget dat publc sectors are unavoidable .. as one of the person has stated a very valid point about ration card systems. private sectors have a competing tendency n dey move along wid the flow whr as the publis sector is more concerned bopt the nation in whole n has to luk after the very need of all the category of ppl..
it is good why because we know importance of privatisation through last 5 years development privatization will give effective production then we can get more revenue then automatically the share share of the organization will grow you take simple example government hospital and private hospitals in india the peoples are observe a lot of difference so friend i would like to conclude that privatization of governemtn organization is important

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MBAs should be taxed at higher rates in the country (IIMB)

For:
* Understandably so in the areas of income and wealth taxes , given their propensity to earn higher through these routes.
Against:
* Taxation is a policy and policies are decided for the masses at large. In order to avoid any discrepancy and bias rates are fixed on income and not on the basis of profession.
* MBAs and other such professional people are taxed "professional tax". So charging them again a higher rate is not required.

Youth in India are becoming greedy by the day (MICA)

For:
* Want to earn a fast buck
* Want to imitate the successful young achievers
Against:
* Ambition is being misunderstood for greediness.

Men resent women power at work place (NMIMS)

For:
* Hard to shake off the age old male ego
* Men find it hard to obey women bosses
* Doubt whether women can make good managers
Against
* It is women who avoid power and responsibility at work

Do you think accent holds you back? Would you prefer everyone speaking uniformly?

For
* Communication between people of different languages will be faster and easier.
* No politicization of language base issues.
Against
* With different languages in India, it is difficult to have same accent.
* It is a personal issue, everybody has a right to speak his mother tongue.
* Hindi and English are serving as the bridge for the variety of languages we have and there is no need to force a common language.

With IT replacing middle level management, soft-ware jobs are more lucrative than MBAs (S.P Jain)

IT is not replacing middle level management, but it is replacing the in-efficiency in an organization. It also results in transparency and provides information on time as and when required. One can't compare the two stated above, its like comparing apples to oranges.

Computers result in unemployment (FMS Delhi)

* Computers replace a lot of jobs.
* A developing country like India cannot afford to have computerization at the cost of unemployment.
Against:
* In a Knowledge and service economy computers are a necessity and a must for development.
* They create more jobs and types of jobs and also have multiplier effect.

Women's empowerment will lead to social development (IIM Kozhikode)

* When you empower a women, you empower a family.
* Major influence on the children and thus the society.
Against:
* No direct connection.
* Will lead to nuclear families and split homes.

Open book examination system would eliminate all the ills of present system. (Dept. of Fin. Studies, DU

* The advantage derived by students copying from various sources will be wiped out.
* The teachers will be forced to ask questions that demand more analytical skills and not just test the memory power of students.
Against:
* It will effect the memory power
* New ideas may not be generated

. The formation of European Union has a drastic effect on India's trade. (IIML)

For:
* This may be read in light of trading equations with our biggest partners USA, UK and Germany where we had miserably failed to bargain given that most of our trade consumables have import exposures from these nations ; the European Union will further augment this situation.
Against:
* The EU would mean more exposure to a more stable currency vis-à-vis the presently volatile dollar tranche ; this would mean healthier earnings and repatriation .

. The formation of European Union has a drastic effect on India's trade. (IIML)

For:
* This may be read in light of trading equations with our biggest partners USA, UK and Germany where we had miserably failed to bargain given that most of our trade consumables have import exposures from these nations ; the European Union will further augment this situation.
Against:
* The EU would mean more exposure to a more stable currency vis-à-vis the presently volatile dollar tranche ; this would mean healthier earnings and repatriation .

You want to be one of the 6 persons in the ship (out of 7) who are to survive. State your case. (TAPMI)

One has to take up a particular profession and argue why and how it is important to the society and states that as the reason for survival.

The money being put into cricket is harming the development of other sports. (SCMHRD)

For:
* Getting sponsored to other sports is difficult, and the players could not have the latest equipment (sport gears).
* Cannot not compete with other countries
Against:
* Department of sports or the Sports ministry has a fixed budget and has to allocate the same to productive use. If the demands from cricket are high the dept. has no other option but to fund them.
* The number of aspiring cricketers speaks for itself how popular a game it is in the nation.
* A lot of funding also comes from sponsors who will fund the game that gives them maximum publicity and in India cricket is no doubt the game.

For the poorer sections of society, a state controlled economy is better than a liberalized economy. (IIMC

* The state has control over the production and the markets helping the poorer sections to avail benefits which they otherwise would have been deprived of.
Against:
* The communist countries are a bright example that state controlled economies do not result in uplifting the poor.
* As history stands a proof state controlled economies have higher rates of corruption and mismanaged economies.
* A liberalized economy with sound regulatory framework will ensure employment and a healthy economy.

In an over-regulated society corruption is inevitable.(MICA)

* This is a clear case of the economic phenomenon of regulatory arbitrage; simply put, laws are made to be broken
Against:
* Regulations , like democracy is a systemic phenomenon ; corruption is a personal equation and holds good or bad depending on an individual's and organization's personal value systems. The two should therefore not be construed/ read as a cause- effect relationship

6. Corruption is the main outcome of democracy in India.(IIML)

* The fact that the system provides equality to everyone ,from whatsoever background and competency makes it easier to play around loopholes in the Indian Statute
Against:
* The risk of Democracy is a systemic risk ; corruption is a personal equation and holds good or bad depending on an individual's and organization's personal value systems. The two should therefore not be construed/ read as a cause- effect relationship.

Under Indian parliamentary democracy it is impossible to ensure balanced regional development. (IIMC)

The fundamental principles of democracy preach to ensure balanced regional development.
* Uniform representation in the Lower House by MPs from all over the country is to bring out regional problems and demands of people from across the country.
Against:
* The government tends to be biased towards vote banks while making and implementing policies.
* The minorities are usually left out in the power game and all the agitation by various minorities is an example of the lopsided development.

4. Film-makers are indulging in cinematic Fortitution in the name of folk culture. (IIML)

For:
* Movie released in theaters is a result of what the producer and director along with his crew put together. The producer being the investor and the director the creator it is left to them to decide what they want to create and produce.
*The producer and the director take a gamble trying to woo the crowd by showing what they want.
* Current trend in movies is towards folk culture, which may fade away soon.
Against:
* If the movie is on folk culture then it should elucidate the beauty of the culture and there should not be any masala added to lure the audience.
* Folk culture is to be preserved in its natural and an inheritance should not be used to make money out of it by depicting the same in movies.

Is bureaucracy a hindrance to economic reforms in India?(IIMC)

For:
* As the laws have not changed significantly, bureaucrats still play a major role in the process of a business.
* The way to successfully implement the reforms is to reduce the amount of paperwork and red tape involved.
Against:
* Bureaucracy is a necessity no doubt, to have control over the activities of the private sector.
* Rules and regulations that are laid down have to be implemented and the masses have to be looked after which is not possible without the help of bureaucrats.
* As a company requires people to run the business, government also requires bureaucrats to run its affairs.

Advertising is all glitter and little truth.(MICA)

* Advertising is a business and not charity. Companies hire advertisers for their promoting their products and it is not vice versa.
* Advertisers have to depict what the customers like, enjoy keeping in mind the clients requirements.
* As the products increase and so the ads, glitter is a way to ensure brand recall, a very important factor for the advertising firms.
Against:
* Advertising firms carry responsibility of providing customers with unbiased information about products.
* In order to have a healthy bottom line the ad firms cannot shun their responsibility towards the society.
* Ad firms have to develop the ethical content into their processes to ensure fair deals.

Are we raising a generation of burnt out children?(IIMB)

For:
* The reason for pushing the children hard today is to nurture them to face the competitive world tomorrow.
* Developing talent is not a sin, it will help the child in his future.
* It is a trickle down effect from the kind of competition experienced for entry into engineering colleges, graduation and others.
Against:
* The basic needs of childhood are, time to play, place to play and explore the world through his eyes.
* In the name of competition we are raising fatigues children.
* The stress is resulting into children engaging in all kinds of derogative acts.

s India really at par with China

Though we always feel ouserlves at par with China but how far is it true.Compare India and China on the basis of following parametres:GDPInfrastrucurePlanned DevelopmentPovertyLiteracyPer Capita IncomeLife ExpectancyLiving StandardsInflation Rate

Tata's 1 Lac: Boon or bane?

It is going to increase the no. of car's running on roadsIt will affect the traffic. Most importantly it will also affect the environment more traffic more pollution.Undoubtely its a dream car for million of people who cant afford to buy the costlier cars.Its going to bring smiles to so many faces etc etc....
So its a boon for poor bane for environment.

. Tata's 1 Lac car is only going to add more woes to the exisitng traffic problem.

Favour
Increasing no. Car User's is one of the major factor's for traffic problems.With limited space on roads at times it appers illogical when we find a person sitting alone in a car when the car occupies a space for 5 people on road.
a. Tata's 1 lac car is within the reach of more no. of people
b. With the limites space on roads which are already traffic ridden Tata's 1 lac car is going to add more chaos on roads

Against
a. Its a dream come true for poor and lower middle class people.

b. The traffic wont be affected much by this car as the target customers are poor or lower middle class people who cant afford the fuel price for their daily car usage. And hence they would be using car's on special occasions only.

c. The traffic problem is more due to the usage of big CAR's by rich individuals and their family memebrs. Every individual in a rich family owns a car and they use it more often, even when they can walk the distance.

Falling Dollar: Good or Bad

Supporting Points

• Ladies and Gentlemen: A weakening dollar simple means: If today USD

1.00 = Rs45/- and if dollar is weakening then USD 1.00 = Rs44.00. So a
weaker dollar means for USD 1.00 you can receive lesser Rupees
But this also means that before you had to pay Rs45 for USD 1.00. Now
the same USD1.00 is available for Rs44.00. This can be good for
importers but bad for exporters

• This Impacts the stock markets – If FII with $1 million couldpump in Rs4.5

crores, now he can only pump in Rs4.4 crores. Also it gives FII incentive
to exit since when he entered for USD 1 million he received Rs4.5 crore,
but on his exit he pays only Rs 4.4 crore for the same USD 1 million. This
is a straight return of 2.22%/Rs10 lacs without any effort
Rs 4.5 crore (FII Received- for USD 1 MILLION - his selling price)
Rs 4.4 crore (FII paid- for USD 1 MILLION - his buying price)

• It impacts our exports earnings in Rupee terms. If a foreigner spent USD

1000.00 in India it would imply Rupee earning of Rs45000.00. However
now that same USD1000.00 fetches only Rs44000/-. The smart manager
would be alert to such changes and cover his foreign currency exposure.
It is generally seen that whenever USD depreciates the earnings of top IT
companies takes a hit, impacting not only earnings but also the stock
price. IT companies should be more careful in using adequate hedging
strategies to cover their export earnings.
Yet this is favorable for Oil companies who have to pay in USD for oil
purchases. Previously every USD1 million cost Rs4.5 crore but now to
buy the same oil for USD 1 million costs Rs 4.4crore. So the impact on
the trade deficit is favorable as we can import more oil by paying lesser in
Rupee terms

• It is also favorable for Indian companies seeking to acquire foreign

companies out of retained earnings as they have to pay less Rupees for
every dollar purchased to pay off the acquired company. Perhaps this is
also one of the reasons why we are seeing a huge increase in M&A by
Indian companies. It is not merely new found confidence but also
practical business sense

Opposing Points

• The most important part to analyse is not how much it is falling by, but

why it is falling. Current state of the US economy is causing the Federal
Reserve to put brakes on US household consumption in an effort to
save more. This means that for export dependent economies like India
we not only lose out in terms of reduced Rupee earnings but also
chances are we will receive lesser export orders.

• Even though the dollar is falling and reducing our Rupee earnings it

may lead to a benefit for India as generally physical end user goods
exports will reduce from China as they add less to productivity and cost
cutting, whereas India’s competitiveness is in software which itself is
designed to increase productivity rapidly.
So given a choice to reduce consumption of finished garments,
electronics v/s reducing software consumption that adds to more
productivity and reduces costs, I believe the US will reduce exports
from China.

• While the USD weakens both as a currency and as an economy, the

EU and Asian regions become stronger. This is a good wake up call for
Indian exports sectors to reduce dependency on one nation for growth
and realize the necessity of being able to meet the needs of various
nations who do not have the spending power as the US. This will only
make Indian industry even more competitive as it is easy to sell to the
wealthiest nation, but being able to provide value to those with tight
budgets will ensure our competitiveness even after our so called
strengths such as cheap labour and cost effectiveness fade away.
The viewpoints clearly show that USD/INR appreciation or depreciation
is simply two sides of the same coin. It is really for the smart manager
to figure which side will favour him the most, and to take suitable
hedging strategies.

• India is in a new stage of development where global Merger and

Acquisitions by Indian companies no longer raise eyebrows. Managers
must thus ensure that foreign currency movements do not jeopardize
their global plans by making suitable use of the various foreign currency
hedging strategies with their bankers.

Trade Deficit - Boon or Bane

Supporting Points
Ladies and Gentlemen: A trade deficit occurs when the nation’s
IMPORTS EXCEED EXPORTS, as we know whenever consumption
exceeds production it becomes a cause for concern. However the key
to determining whether Trade deficit is a boon or bane depends upon
nature of consumption. If imports are meant for further processing for
exports then such trade deficit is a boon, whereas end user
consumption is always a bane

A trade deficit may pose a problem for an economy witnessing slow
growth, however in India’s case our demand is for further growth.
Lack of cheap resources domestically is resulting in higher imports of
cheaper goods of high quality.

Ultimately it is the Indian consumer who benefits as not only the
goods are cheaper but also of a very high quality which improves the
local manufacturing sector quality standards. So for India the trade
deficit it is a boom

In the case of the US trade deficit at $800 billion, it’s a problem due to
the simultaneous effect of war expenditure in Iraq which does not
contribute to raising productive resources, and massive tax cuts
granted by the economy has led to an impetus on immediate
consumption. Should the tax rates be raised and stimulus given on
savings the trade deficit would again reverse.

Also to be noted is that despite the huge trade deficit, the statistics
reveal that unemployment is lower, the Dow Jones is also rising and
household wealth is higher than in the 1990’s after being adjusted
even for inflation. So a trade deficit may not necessary be an evil
thing for an economy.

Ordinarily a trade deficit above $100 billion as is India’s case would
be a grave cause for concern when compared to economies like
China, however the difference lies primarily on account of oil imports
constituting a much larger component of our total imports and the
worrisome increase in oil prices from $40 /barrel to $60/barrel. A
more representative trade deficit will arise if India concentrates on
managing the energy security issue. Greater use of nuclear, wind
based energy sources have to be strongly encouraged to better
manage our energy concerns. Once our energy production increases,
then automatically oil imports will begin to reduce and our trade deficit
will automatically improve

Opposing Points


Taking the example of the US trade deficit which has come close to
7 % of GDP is creating a class of highly nervous investors such as
George Soros, and Warren Buffet. The faith of investors in the US
economy has diminished and this has resulted in a fall in the value of
the dollar globally. Why this has implication for India’s trade deficit is
that till now our export strategy was largely dependent on IT exports
to USA, when the USA tightens its belt a large chunk of IT exports
too may come under pressure, so whatever trade surplus revenues
were being created will also get diminished. This will place additional
pressure on India’s trade deficit and it may widen further.
A trade deficit cannot be taken lightly in India; currently our export
target is $125 billion whereas the import target is closer to $140
billion. While crude oil constitutes a major chunk, another major part
of our imports are edible oils and other commodities for which India
is a net importer and not exporter. This clearly shows our
dependency not only for power but basic consumables.

Currently only 2% of agri-produce is processed further for future
consumption. This reflects the huge waste and lost forex earnings
that could accrue by creating a proper strategy for Food Processing
Industry to flourish. This will not only reduce imports but boost export
earnings and the agricultural industry.

A trade deficit would only be acceptable if India had a major export
strategy based on using current imports. However major chunk of
Indian exports is based on software exports and not from Oil and
commodity exports. Apart from the Gems and Jewellery sector all
other major export sectors do not depend on imports for raw
material.

The fact is our trade deficit is merely to meet our huge consumption,
and that too is not concentrated for use in one sector to produce
something more productive, but to meet the needs for small kitchens
spread across million of rural villages. Thus neglecting to improve
the trade deficit is a mistake in India

Participants have clearly shown that opposing points are possible
and yet each viewpoint is valid. Today India has a trade deficit and
yet it is one of the fastest growing countries. The US also has a trade
deficit however the services sector which makes 70% of US GDP is
growing at a respectable rate.

However a Trade deficit cannot be ignored for the very valid reason
that an economy that is consuming more than it is producing is
structurally wrong somewhere. Thus while the overall picture may
appear sound, the foundation may have some cracks. Care must be
taken to rectify the cause of the trade deficit while there is time
available to do so.