The Times of India reports that “Chindia“, a word coined to represent the future’s two most powerful countries, China and India, should be replaced with “Chimerica”, China and America, now that India’s economy is failing:
The gap between China and India has become glaring in the current global financial crisis. China has become a major global player, second only to the US, while India is barely on the radar screen. Many blame the US for financial excesses that triggered the meltdown. But the US says the problem originated in the massive trade surpluses of China, which accumulated foreign exchange reserves of $2 trillion, eight times as big as India’s…
Although the G-20 group of countries met to work out solutions, many commentators (including Martin Wolf of the Financial Times) spoke of the emergence of the US and China as the G-2, the only group that really mattered. Historian Niall Ferguson coined the term Chimerica to represent the great new geopolitical reality — that the 21st century will be dominated by China and America.
India scarcely matters. It is still a country that instinctively seeks aid and foreign concessions. On the international scene, it is a taker, not a giver. China, however is now a giver. In the proposed expansion of the IMF’s lending, China has offered to supply $40 billion, against $100 billion from Japan and possibly the US. India does not figure in this giver’s list — it would rather be a receiver.
An interview with Ferguson speaking about Chimerica:
See also past CDT posts on Chindia.
