The Spread of Crony Capitalism
Interesting piece in today’s FT speculating on links between high growth in the Russian and Indian markets of late, zeroing in on cronyism, India’s January telecoms corruption scandal over 2G licenses, and broader concern over the rise of corruption in the country.
Even as the country becomes one of the great economic growth stories of the 21st century, significant members of the Indian elite fear it may be following Russia in developing a kind of crony capitalism dominated by powerful insiders. A slew of recent corruption scandals – notably in telecommunications – has nourished anxieties that the combination of fantastic wealth creation and weak governance threatens to undermine India’s long-term success.