The Economist had this article talking about the imminence of new licenses for the opening of banks in India.
And I put in a couple of long comments on the article. Here they are.
A reader responded to my comment with this:
And I put in a couple of long comments on the article. Here they are.
I will be extremely worried if
Reliance gets a banking license.
And why does Indian
banking need Mr. Vikram 'Citi' Pandit's punidtry in Indian banking?
Haven't American banks
including Citi, JP Morgan and all the other too-big-to-fail banks and other
financial institutions including hedge funds caused enough havoc to the
American economy?
Have not the GREED of a
few men to make millions and billions of dollars per year caused enough
unemployment for millions of Americans?
Already banks like HDFC
and ICICI are fleecing customers by imposing little charges and in other ways.
Looking ahead to 2020, I
do not wish The Economist or other publications putting out a 'list' or
'ranking' of the Top Earning Bankers of India which will presumably figure Mr.
Pandit, Ms. Kochar, Mr. Kotak, Ms. Sharma, Mr. Puri, Ms. Morparia, and so on
...
And no, these new banks
WILL MOST CERTAINLY *not* be providing banking services to the poor millions
who thus far have been deprived of banking services.
That social
responsibility will fall inevitably on the PSU banks or the public sector
banks.
It's simple.
When you
"allow" private super-specialty healthcare such as Medanta Medcity by
Mr. Trehan, Apollo Hospitals, Fortis, and so on, they are not going to be
meeting the need for healthcare services by the hundreds of millions of poor.
These premium hospitals cater to the thin rich strata of Indian society plus
patients from abroad including Africa, Iran, and so on.
When you let new
"high end" *international* schools to open which charge astronomical
fees and have AC schools and school buses, they DO NOT cater to the poor
masses.
The only government
initiatives or decisions or legislations that will have mass impact and far
reaching consequences are MNREGA, the Food Security Bill, Right to Education
Bill, Direct Cash Transfer, and perhaps the Land Acquisition Bill.
A reader responded to my comment with this:
I'm a bit confused here.
Are you saying that companies that cater to the rich should not be allowed?
Or merely that it is a fallacy to think that companies that mainly cater to the rich, while legitimate, are of little use in helping the status of the poor?
The two are different positions.
And my response was:
I guess I am saying that we
have a tendency to focus too much on matters that do not affect a vast majority
of people.
If I may give a few
random examples:
1) A criminal like
Bernie Madoff expresses 'remorse' or whatever from prison and the papaers carry
it. Pointless in my opinion. Though one caveat in his case would be that his
clients were probably mostly rich folks.
2) The need to make
millions by bankers, hedge fund guys and other financial types in Wall St. has
brought so much grief to millions in the U.S. and yet the grip of lobbyists is
so vice-like that the political system has been able to do very little to rein
in this monster of a financial system.
I am afraid that Indians
merely ape (the worst aspects of) Americans. Therefore, policymakers will be easily persuaded by their
5-star drinking buddies and we will soon have these obscenities such as ranks
of the richest ... richest players, richest bankers, richest CEOs, and so on.
People tend to be
interested in silly stuff. In India, everyone is sadly obsessed with cricket.
Therefore, a few silly young men make millions. It's no wonder if a few of them
are 'tempted' to make even more through spot fixing. The problem would obviously
solve itself if people stopped taking interest in cricket.
The strange tale of
Sahara stretches on. I do not think the Indian legal system would be able to
punish rogues like Subroto Roy. Or Kalmadi or other real estate criminals. If
we have a banking system that goes out of control, we will merely have more
Roys and Kalmadis that the system won't be able to catch because they will be
able to manipulate the system.
If the government allows
more banks with shady credentials, that will merely lead to more money
laundering if not anything more dubious.
May be India should try
to compete with Cyprus and other 'tax free' havens so that Russian billionaires
and Apple, GE and other American MNCs park their hundreds of billions in India.
I am confident that
India will manage to faithfully repeat all the mistakes of America. India is
good at absorbing the worst bits of foreigners while neglecting the good bits
such as innovation, creativity, new thinking and a Renaissance spirit.
Who was that guy from
500 years back who drew the first drawings of a helicopter ... oh yes, Leonardo
da Vinci. Bill Gates apparently still feels 'inspired' by him. Indians are
merely inspired by Bill Gates because Gates got MONEY!
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