We are forced write our own story.

As the BJP government completes one year in office there is a deluge of articles trying to assess what it has accomplished and advice on what to do next. It seems simple: to reduce poverty we need to create jobs and jobs will come from increased manufacturing, so we must increase our manufacturing base. But the old ways will not do. We have to improve our productivity, as China did with great success, because labor intensive small firms are inefficient and of poor quality. Productivity is measured by value added per hour of work and in manufacturing value addition in India is 5.33, in China it is 9.78, in Brazil it is 13.23, in Mexico it is 15.99, in Turkey it is 21.37, while in Indonesia it is 27.72. So what example should we follow? Should we follow the Chinese path or that of Mexico? China's manufacturing growth is based on massive government spending on infrastructure built on forcible occupation of land compared to India where the Congress is determined to stop any amendment to the Land Acquisition Act, passed by the Congress just before elections last year to stop the BJP government from improving our economy. Even more contentious was China's one-child policy which prevented 400 million births, improved maternal and child health, reduced demand on agriculture and the education system and released vast numbers of women from housework, thus allowing both partners to work, which increased income. There are predictions that India's growth rate will be higher than that of China but a growth rate of 10% of a $2 trillion economy adds only $200 billion while a growth rate of 6% of a $10 trillion economy adds $600 billion, 3 times as much. We do not want to be like China so should we be like Mexico? Mexico shares a long border with the US and is a part of the North American Free Trade Agreement, so it should be sharing in US prosperity. Since becoming part of NAFTA Mexico's growth rate has averaged 2.4% per year and per capita income has grown by an average of 1.14% per year. The result has been an explosion of drug gangs and violent killings with guns smuggled in from the US. So, Mexico is out. What about Turkey? Turkey's economy is in trouble with the lira falling against the dollar. President Erdogan is totally corrupt and, as is common with such people, wants to hang on to power to protect his even worse family. He is destroying the economy just to stay in power. What about Brazil? With vast size, abundant natural resources and lots of tourist attractions surely Brazil is a role model. Sadly, the fall in commodity prices, rise in the dollar and slower growth in China has hit Brazil very hard. Brazil's oil company, Petrobras has written off $17 billion in assets due to corruption and the interest rate has been raised to 12.75% to curb inflation. Sadly, no one to follow, it's a lonely world.