Comments by grandaxe

Software coding is one of the few areas where India has made a name after years of degenerating socialist rule which reduced them into an international basket case.

Cut some slack over here, and give the Indians some credit for crying out loud.

They have done an outstanding job and earned an amazing reputation with the American Multinational Companies.

I guess the Japanese realize the Japanese Market is a dead end road, and that they want to catch a part of the excitment in the emerging economies.
Not that the Japanese enjoy coming to a country like India.
However in the end even for the Japanese "business comes first".
How long can they cling on to a stagnent economy?

How much can old people spend?
What do they splurge on?
And non Japanese are not welcome in Japan!
Woman are still not participating in the economy of Japan for all practical purposes.
How much more are the Yankees and Brits going to buy from Japan?
Export model?
Stagnation, stifling bueareaucracy, and my company is God is more like it.
I don not think they can manufacture their way out of problems like they thought they could.
How long can the rest of the world buy "made in Japan" when Japanese don't want to spend their money and buy some of our stuff?
Thank God, the Japanese story has been overtaken by the Chinese/Indian/Russian/Brazilian story.
So much for Japan and the Japanese.

What has Islam got against education? I find that the vast majority of them are less educated than their Hindu brethren. And their woman by and large very poorly educated. In higher education Hindu's outperform their Islamic brothers.

I guess there needs to be a focus on education in Islam. Science, Engineering, Medicine, Accounts, Law and so on and so forth.
This push for education is certainly not going to come from their scared texts or mullahs.

This is going to make them a more miserable tribe.

Mr. Shafiq,
Unfortunately well off Muslims in India don't want to be seen with the rest of their brothers for fear of being branded as fanatics or worse terrorists.
The guys who are engineers or doctors are more like Hindu's since they need to find employment.
In India we do believe that one day like Salman Khan, Sania Mirza, they will abandon many of their ridiculous traditions and culture, and blend in.
Let me tell you it is no different in Thailand, China and the US.
Violence, and fanaticism is making the average Muslim miserable in regions other than the Gulf.
Its crazy, but if I see a guy here with a long beard and a white cap or some woman in a black overall I move away from her/him like he is a leper.
I don't think with people like you your brothers and sisters lives are going to get any better.
Muslims need to study more Modern Science and Arts and understand that Modern thinking has no place for traditions and culture of a 1500 years ago.
Even a great educated Muslim like ex-President Abdul Kalam was frisked at an Indian airport by Continental Airlines.
The same thing happened to Premji Azimji (owner of 80%of Wipro) a couple of years back in India.
No izzat left in India Huh?

Possibly it is the nature of modern science and modern education where the rebelliousness of the mind is cherished, that prevents the Arabs from moving away from their ancient beliefs.

Education seems to have less meaning to this particular tribe than to 65% literate India.

This is where the end begins for the Arab nations.

Easy money ain't going to help them too long.

Gentlemen,
Its not the end of the West.
And the US or Britan.

Who is going to drive innovation?

China? India? Arabs? South East Asians?

No, this is just a 5 to 7 year blip.

We are in a recession, but please don't be so insane as to write of the West or celebrate the rise of Asia.

Technology is still Western and Japanese, and they just need some time to recover from British and American overspending.

Thats all there is to it.

It is because my Hindu religion does not teach me to get violent I get scared.
Mr. Al Raheem you need to look at the basic issues, and not get trapped in some obscure philosophy.

Right now the fear factor is the strongest emotion when dealing with Islam.
The Imams are only spreading a culture of hatred and bloodshed.

The real victims are the Muslim guys who just want a job and to look after their children, wives and parents like any other Hindu, Buddhist, or Christian or Jew.

So when I employ people in India I always feel fear when I hear a Muslim name.
I don't judge people by religion, but why do I get so scared of Muslims all over the world?

Al Raheem,
What you say in theory may be right, but in history and in todays world Muslims don't agree with your interpretation of Islam.

I think that it will be an uphill task unless this nostalgia for a Narrow Minded interpretation of the Holy Book disappears.

Mr. Al Raheem, I don't see that happening for a long time to come.
Which is why Muslims all over the world will be unfairly judged.
People like you are very hard to come by in India as Mr. Imright says.
I was shocked to see discrimination against Muslims not only in India, but also in China and Thailand.
Nobody tries to hide their feelings when employing Muslims in the emerging world.
Something has to change and then we can see a safer and saner world.
Trust me, many people are concerned.

Yes, Companies are ruthless.

Dear Sebouh,
You have to choose between the worse of two evils.
If workers start feeling safe, you get shoddy products, and financial burdens and the General Motors phenomenon of inflexibility in the face of the Japanese onslaught.
The GM, Ford and Crysler workers were the laughing stock of the Japanese auto industry.
I feel bad about the layoffs, but unions are no answer.
We need smarter and more hardworking American workers, which trust me will happen after this recession.

A reality check.
Germans, Japanese, and Chinese are not going to start spending anytime soon.
Savings is a matter of culture, and not economics.
These races wouldn't like to change their culture, would they?

And the British and the Americans aren't going to go back to their old ways.
For a very long time to come.
Even if cheap credit comes back.
Ain't it always better to have some money in the bank?

The world as we know it has changed.

Under the Shah I remember how rich the Iranians engineering students were in Bangalore and other cities in India. And this was the second rung of students, the better off having gone to the UK, US, and Canada.
In the end its "the economy stupid".
Along with the desire for God, comes a desire for material things.
This is what the Supreme Leader of Iran has forgotten.

However honestly speaking I don't see any chances of freedom coming anytime soon.
The stranglehold of the Religious Police is too strong and pervasive.
They are very much a part of the everyday fabric of Iran unlike the Shah's secret police which lived a separate and more privileged life in Iran.

I guess Iranian students won't be going anywhere for sometime to come.
Young Indians don't even know that Iranians ever studied engineering and medicine and lived in Bangalore living in the best addresses and owning the best bikes and cars in town.
They find that information irrelevant.
I find that very sad.
These guys had so much hope and love for their country in those days.
They were an inspiration for my generation of Indian Muslims.

Hey dear friends in the Economist.
At a balding 50, boringly married, should I starve and take pills and like live another maybe 30 years or hit the accelerator and gorge your burgers, KFC's, and Pizza now available in India, and wine and dine with the best of woman and die a quick death at 60?
I can't figure out the answer.
Maybe some journalist genius over there has the answer?

As a auto worker in India for 28 years, all I can say is that the Japanese and Koreans auto workers are laughing their heads off.
They are comtemptuous of American workers and Companies, and feel that there is too much laziness and too many benefits (like that 10 minute tea break).
As an American cheerleader in India, I hope to hell you guys pull of something like a Jobs or Gates in the automotive industry and re-invent yourselves.
But honestly when I hear the Koreans and Japanese talking, I think that may be just a dream I have.

In India we are living in a state of fear about the next bomb attack or infiltration by Pakistani's and Bangadeshi's in the name of Islamic Jihad.
Muslims and Hindus are very careful now how and what they talk about in each others company.
I sympathize with the Han Chinese.
Economic progress needs to come first.
Poverty only increases religious fervour and fanatism.
Its strange but poor countries are a ticking bomb for any kind of terrorism.
You need to wipe out these guys who talk nonsense like a few fanatics Uigurs.

Iran is almost a failed state, but for the oil and gas. I remember how rich Iranians once were in Bangalore as students in the late 70's and early 80's.
They rented houses and employed cooks and drove bikes and jeeps.
The other day I was talking to an Iranian lady working in a spa on a one year visa, and she shocked me by telling me that Iranians would give an arm and a leg to get permission to live in India even for a year.
Their country is pretty much bankrupted emotionally, and I don't know if the man on the streets really cares for all the government policies towards US and Britan.
Maybe the common Iranian just wants to get a good job, and send his son to study engineering in Bangalore, like the truck drivers did 30 years back.

Good for democracy.
Welcome Malaysia to the 21st Century.
Malaysians want to evolve to the next level, and the younger generations seem to be ready to accept foreigners competing against them in all spheres of life like in USA and Canada.
Since this change has been driven by a native of the soil, I think it will be successful.
Congratulations to the Malaysian people, and I hope their dream of becoming a regional economic superpower materializes in the next decade or so.

Its going to be very tough with Japanese Carmakers dominating the world.
Expect more arrogance and other evils.

This article leads to interesting debates about an export oriented economy.
Or living life on the edge.
It hasn't been too bad for China, and historically it has been good for Japan.
I guess the lesson I learn from this global meltdown is that internal demand has to be there.
We have to do whatever it takes to create a domestic demand in these difficult times.
The world as we know it has changed forever.