Seen from India’s ivory tower

The key to the gate of heaven, runs a Buddhist proverb, is also the key which could open the gate of hell. Buddha wasn't specifically talking about capital account convertibility when he made this statement. But he could have been.

The country that fostered Buddha was also one of the few in Asia that didn’t succumb to the fashion for convertibility. India was a cautious reformer and has escaped a mauling. Its economy will register not just positive but decent growth this year. Long labelled a laggard of reform, India now finds its moderate approach held up as a model for the opinion-formers in Washington as they scratch around for a new economic paradigm to replace the now-discredited pseudo-capitalism of the Asian economies.

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