China, India will dominate world economy by 2020
VioletStar October 21st, 2006
According to Times of India…
Over the last year, the notion of Chindia has become the buzzword in the inter-national economy. It is being used to describe the combined economic clout of India and China. According to some estimates Chindia’s current share in world GDP is around 20 per cent (measured at purchasing power parity), which is roughly the same as the US.
If China and India keep growing at the current rate of 8 per cent, within three decades they would account for half of global output. This incredible growth of the two countries that are home to nearly half the world’s population is a cause of celebration.
Booming economies will lift the living standards of millions in India and China who are struggling to barely survive. It will also result in a more equitable sharing of the world’s resources and wealth.
The Chindia boom will, of course, lead to a huge increase in consumption of consumer goods as well as commodities such as steel and cement that are the backbone of infrastructure. Even more importantly, the energy needs of both India and China will jump to ever-higher levels. There is no need to worry, however, that this will spell doom for the environment.
Economists have noted that today’s deve-loping economies are leapfrogging stages of economic growth that led Europe and the US to become industrialised nations.
This means that China and India can catch up with the rich nations without the necessary downside of an economic boom. This is possible primarily because of technological advances that will enable developing countries to reduce and even eliminate many of the ills of rapid growth.
Nuclear energy is a good example of how technology can benefit growing economies. Increased use of nuclear power plants can meet the growing energy needs of China and India without harming the environment.
Similarly, in other fields, technology and innovation can enable developing nations to bypass the ecological perils of growth. Chindia is not something that rich nations should fear; it should be feted as a means to a better world.
