The Indian government has started talking seriously about how it can match China’s double-digit growth. Some Indians argue that, in the long run, their country’s superior “soft architecture” – symbolised by its robust, if imperfect, democracy – mean its growth will be more sustainable than China’s. That is debatable. But even if it is true, the promise of fast growth tomorrow does not do India’s impoverished masses much good today. A recent Oxford University survey finds there are more desperately poor people living in eight Indian states than in sub-Saharan Africa.
印度政府已開始認真討論如何趕超中國兩位數的經濟增長。一些印度人辯稱，長期而言，印度更為出色的“軟結構”——以雖不完善、但充滿活力的民主制度為代表——意味著，該國會實現比中國更具可持續性的經濟增長。這一點值得商榷。但即便此言屬實，未來經濟迅速增長的承諾，并不能為當今印度的貧苦大眾帶來多少好處。牛津大學(Oxford University)最近一項調查顯示，印度8個邦的極度貧困人口，比整個撒哈拉以南非洲地區還要多。