Thursday, November 17, 2011

a great idea or more hot air?

India is mulling how to provide social security benefits to its 430 million workers in System D, LiveMint reports. The government estimates that 94 percent of India's workforce is in the informal sector, and that they account for around 60% of India’s gross domestic product.

These ingenious entrepreneurs and street merchants are crucial to the nation's survival. But, as one economist notes in the article, India does not have a great track record in service delivery--and so the whole discussion might simply be an academic exercise or a ploy for the ruling Congress Party to win public support. “This is ambitious simply because we do not know how to implement it,” said S.L. Rao, Bangalore-based sociologist and former director general of the National Council for Applied Economic Research. “When we look at social security, we look at delivering services and money for taking care of health, education and insurance. To be honest, so far we have been incompetent in delivery of both services and money.”

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If India starts expanding it's social services, it will raise the standard of living. It will no longer be cost effective for American companies to hire coolie labor over there. How do you expect them to earn their big bonuses without off-shoring? Why do you hate billionaires so much, India?

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking there's a problem w/ definitions here...or more appropriately, who's definitions are dominant.

Q: If the more conventional & global economic systems are so beneficent, why are there so many large cultural blocks not engaged with them?

A: Because they work more for those driving them than for those supposedly being served by them.

Elizabeth said...

Mr. Neuwirth,
I would love to connect with you regarding a campaign about inequality that my company is about to launch.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,
Elizabeth Nakano
COO, Peacelily
elizabeth@peacelilyenterprises.com

Julie Chadwick said...

Hi Robert, I was wondering if I could sneak a few minutes of your time for an interview. I am a freelance journalist writing for my local hometown paper (and former Amsterdam squatter!). I'd like to ask you about piracy, specifically. You can contact me at juliehchadwick@gmail.com