If India could have a Donald Trump.

In 1978 China and India had similar living standards. Deng Xiaoping started economic reforms in 1978 whereas India started in 1991 when the Reserve Bank was forced to pledge 67 tonnes of gold to get a loan of $2.2 billion from the IMF. China's real GDP in 2001 was $1.56 trillion which was the same as India's GDP of $1.55 trillion in 2014. Today China's GDP is $10 trillion, which makes it the second richest country in the world, while India's GDP is $2 trillion. What was it that happened in 2000 that made the Chinese economy zoom so high? First, China became a member of the World Trade Organization. India, which is a member of the WTO since its formation in 1995 and was a member of its predecessor, GATT since 1948, allowed China to become a member with nothing in return, while China has repaid that by blocking our entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group and will never allow India to become member of the UN Security Council. Nehru actually declined an offer of permanent membership of the UN Security Council in 1953 and suggested China as an alternative, leading to a humiliating defeat by China in 1962. The second event that helped China was when the Republicans passed a resolution to extend permanent normal trade relations with China in 2000. That resulted in a flood of outsourcing of manufacturing to China, resulting in a loss of 2 million jobs in the US, out of a total of 5 million jobs lost in manufacturing. Wages fell by 15% when adjusted for inflation. US imports from China cost $481.9 billion in 2015, while it exported $116.2 billion worth, giving a trade deficit of $365.7 billion. But what no one seems to talk about is that cheap imports from China kept inflation rates low in the US, which lulled the Federal Reserve into keeping interest rate low, resulting in the sub-prime crisis. The interest rate was 6.6% in 100, fell to 1.75% in 2001 and was just 1.00% in 2003 when the crisis was born, as US consumers borrowed like crazy, thinking that the party would last forever. What now? Both countries are chained by their political systems. China is a dictatorship of the Communist Party which has to maintain a high rate of growth to keep people employed and prevent protests. The weakening global economy means China's exports are falling. The government is trying to shift from manufacturing and investment towards consumption but there are doubts about how successful it will be without widespread job losses. Donald Trump promises to bring jobs back from China and robots will allow the US to manufacture cheaply at home. As for India, our growing population means that the workforce will reach 200 million by 2030, while our economy remains shackled by socialism. If only we could have a Donald Trump in India.