Assessing the economic rise of China and India

The recent economic rise of China and India has attracted a great deal of attention--and justifiably so. Together, the two countries account for one-fifth of the global economy and are projected to represent a full third of the world's income by 2025. Yet, many of the views regarding China and India's market reforms and high growth have been tendentious, exaggerated, or oversimplified. This talk by leading economist Professor Bardhan will explore the challenges that both countries must overcome to become true leaders in the international economy. Bardhan's latest book 'Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay' investigates China's and India's economic reforms, each nation's pattern and composition of growth, and the problems afflicting their agricultural, industrial, infrastructural, and financial sectors. His talk will consider how these factors affect poverty, inequality, and environment, how political factors shape each country's pattern of burgeoning capitalism, and how significant poverty reduction in both countries is mainly due to domestic factors--not global integration, as most would believe. Pranab Bardhan is professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. His books include Scarcity, Conflicts, and Cooperation.