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Getting stuck in the bad equilibrium in India
The poor in India are victims of state indifference and corruption; somewhere between a quarter and a half of all subsidized food meant for them, for example, is stolen by corrupt government officials. And yet if one asks the poor what jobs they would like their children to have the number one answer is to work for the government. (See also my earlier post on Regulation and distrust for a model.)
To the poor the state is both an enemy and a friend. It tantalizes them with a ladder that promises to lift them out of poverty but it habitually kicks them in the teeth when they turn to it for help. It inspires both fear and promise. To India's poor the state is like an abusive father whom you can never abandon. It is through you that his sins are likely to live on.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on July 13, 2009 at 07:40 AM in Economics | Permalink
Comments
"And yet"?
Isn't that kind of obvious, if that's where more than a quarter of the food ends up?
Posted by: ogmb at Jul 13, 2009 9:02:17 AM
A good point made. However, especially since privatization has taken off some years ago this is slowly changing since they have competition and are held a bit more accountable as times are changing and those government jobs are a little more at risk than they were in the past. Still nowhere near where it could be, but nothing happens fast...especially in India.
Posted by: Steve at Jul 13, 2009 9:44:22 AM
Isn't this true for most nations through out history? Farmers, craftsmen, and merchants, and most entrepreneurs not only had to work hard and pay taxes, but were also seen viewed as low status jobs. Courtesans, lawyers, military officers, and all manner of government officials were associated with nobility and/or high status. This is still true in Latin American countries to some extent.
Posted by: hkc at Jul 13, 2009 11:22:56 AM
Hahaha, India Sux. US Americans would never let their country get to the point where government jobs are more lucrative than private sector, where bureaucrat salaries and pensions bankrupt state and local municipalities and union jobs bankrupt national icons. Silly for'ners.
Posted by: Andrew at Jul 13, 2009 11:33:10 AM
I once took a test for the post office, their were 3 job openings but there must have been close to 1,000 people taking the test. I had gone to an all college prep High school and I saw a few people that I knew for that high school taking the test, they were obviously over qualified and could have been much more productive in some other line of work. Dare I say that few would have said that service at the post office was good. I would say that we have a similar problem to India to a small degree.
Posted by: Floccina at Jul 13, 2009 1:00:24 PM
It sounds similar to the Mafia or to inner city gangs. Those at low levels are treated like dirt, but the rewards for the very few who make it high up are good enough that everyone still wants a piece of the action.
Posted by: Norman at Jul 13, 2009 1:12:31 PM
Previous comment made me think of investment banking and management consulting.
Posted by: AM at Jul 13, 2009 1:34:38 PM
The ignorance of Andrew astounds me. It really does.
Posted by: C at Jul 13, 2009 2:09:38 PM
Wonderful book . The last 4 pages are some of the most enjoyable I have ever read.
However things are increasingly better ( see this week's TIME article)and there have been significant use of Right to Information type acts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_Information_Act ) to shed light on and mitigate some of the corruption
AM : Great comment ; not much difference between AIG and All India Government.
C : Andrew was being sarcastic.
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Posted by: air jordan shoes at Jul 13, 2009 10:14:16 PM
If you are a poor woman in India, your goal is to marry a man with a stable income. And if you are a poor man in India, your goal is to get that stable income by getting a job with the government. This is even still true to a certain extent at the top of the social hierarchy. The Economist mentioned in an article a while ago that an ICS officer is still considered more desirable on the marriage market than someone who works for a tech company.
Posted by: Ricardo at Jul 13, 2009 10:19:20 PM
Does india deserve better? a people who keep voting the congress party back to power over and over again in spite of 60 yrs of failure, incompetence, extreme corruption, and mindboggling mismanagement and complete destruction and enslavement of all institutions of governance for the sake of keeping The Family in power have forfeited the right to ask for anything better.
The Left wing establishment in india has never tolerated opposition and its stranglehold on power in india is back to where it was before the hindutva rebellion. The reform movement of the hindu right has failed, so best of luck saving india. India works, suffers and exists for The Family, and only The Family.
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I actually think that Dalrymple's "The Age of Kali" is the best "recent" (the book is ~10 years old at this point) book on modern India. Just about the only thing that is outdated in that book IMO is the bit on the Tamil Tigers, and that's only because they were defeated in May. It's more narrative than analysis, really, but that doesn't mean that Dalrymple isn't highlighting some of India's most pervasive and systemic problems in a really poignant and hard-hitting fashion.
Posted by: calthaer at Jul 16, 2009 6:32:42 PM
The Left wing establishment in india has never tolerated opposition and its stranglehold on power in india is back to where it was before the hindutva rebellion. The reform movement of the hindu right has failed, so best of luck saving india. India works, suffers and exists for The Family, and only The Family
Posted by: infants at Nov 9, 2009 12:06:59 AM
I agree, It sounds similar to the Mafia or to inner city gangs. Those at low levels are treated like dirt, but the rewards for the very few who make it high up are good enough that everyone still wants a piece of the action.
Posted by: furniture stores at Nov 20, 2009 3:12:36 AM
Well in any society the poor are always the ones who get the raw deal. I'm sure in India it isn't any different.
Posted by: Justina Bailey at Nov 23, 2009 1:39:50 AM
