Bush and the Growing Indian Middle Class
February 27th, 2006 | by Ken Grandlund |As President Bush prepares for a trip abroad to India and Pakistan, he made time to offer a few remarks about the growing Indian middle class.
“That middle class is buying air conditioners, kitchen appliances and washing machines and a lot of them from American companies like GE and Whirlpool and Westinghouse,” Bush said. “And that means our job base is growing here.”
This is classic bait and switch. How many manufacturing plants have been opening in the U.S. to create all these newly affordable goods for the Indian people? I don’t have the number handy, but I’ll bet it’d take less than one hand to count them all. The reality is that manufacturing plants will be opening in Asia to make these goods, and for a variety of reasons. Labor is cheaper, regulations are more lax, and the cost savings on transporting those goods is cheaper when you produce them close to their final market. I doubt that American manufacturing job prospects will increase because of a rise in Indian income and desire for goods. Hell, this Indian middle class numbers 300 million- more people than we have in the whole U.S.A. That still leaves half a billion or so to make the goods in India.
What he meant to say is “That middle class is buying air conditioners, kitchen appliances and washing machines and a lot of them from American companies like GE and Whirlpool and Westinghouse and that means corporate profits are growing here.”
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the Indian people improving their lives and livlihoods. If more of the worlds populations were closer in wealth and goods, there would be less to really fight about. But to paint this as a boon for American workers is simply untrue. Unless those workers fly around on corporate jets, make deals at the Country Club, and have politicians at their beck and call.
3 Responses to “Bush and the Growing Indian Middle Class”
By icoman on Feb 27, 2006 | Reply
Face it, he lives in a bubble. He’s been around wealth his entire life, he is purposely kept isolated from the “peasants” and he continues to argue that his policies are aimed at helping Americans even though the Americans he’s referring to only represent a very small percentage of the citizenry. I honestly don’t think he has any idea how the majority of people live and I honestly don’t think he’s really in charge anyway.