Monday, March 17, 2008

Readings: Dancing with the Devil ?

The subprime troubles in the US shouldn't have troubled our economy / markets, but they have. Why? and what's next ? Mr. Ajit Dayal of Equitymaster.com explains this nicely in his article - Island of Sanity. A brief excerpt of the article is as below:

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Email your friends, cousins, children in USA. Ask them to walk around their homes and make a list of all the things that they own. Request them to note down in which country that item was made. And what that item cost them. Add it up, get a total for all the “things” they have in their homes: the beds, the tables, the sofa, the chairs, the kitchen appliances, the TV, the stereo, their clothes, their shoes. Now ask them: how much of these “things” they own have a “Made in India” tag.

If the people you sent the email to are of Indian origin, chances are that they have some Indian furniture, the pressure cooker to make rice, and a few Indian paintings on the wall. The total value of “Made in India” products may be 5% of the value of all the things they have in their home. If the people you sent the email to are not of Indian origin, the chances are that the total value of “Made in India” products is likely to be zero.

India, as a country, is not an export-led economy.
India had nothing to benefit from the massive build out in new home construction in USA.
India should have nothing to lose from the massive decline in new home construction.

A recession in USA should have little impact on India’s economy.

Yet, the Indian stock market swoons and twists to every piece of news on the condition and health of the US economy. Blame our lust to Dance with the Devil for that.

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Read the entire article here [Link].

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