The Elephant and the Dragon : The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us

Yet another book review. We listened to the Elephant and the Dragon by Robyn Meredith, a reporter for Forbes Magazine, as an audiobook during our commute. Although it was published in 2007 before the financial crisis caused by the subprime lending fiasco, most of the data is still useful. Meredith covers the recent economic and political histories of India and China to explain why the two countries have developed so differently, why India is the back office while China is the factory to the world. It was really amazing to listen to how rapidly China changed and is catching up with the rest of the world. Because it was able to, the Chinese government put a huge amount of money into infrastructure (roads, factories, power supply). The democratic and bureaucratic Indian government is way behind China in this respect. However, because India has a huge population of children, Meredith sees that there is a real possibility for immense economic growth in India if jobs can be provided for these up and coming workers. It's a good book for learning a lot about these two countries and how they will continue to challenge the economies of the West.