A case for a welfare economy

For a society to thrive, there must be optimal allocation of economic resources, goods, and income.
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India and China, having more than 1 billion people each, are front runners to become superpowers, but India has an edge over China as the latter has an autocratic rule, while India follows democracy. Superpower means a super economy that matches demand and supply. More human development means more purchasing power and more demand for products. More products mean more industries, employment, supply of currency, healthy people, and education. That is a welfare economy.

Countries that adopt a welfare economy can become superpowers.

The U.S. and the U.K. follow a capitalist economy. A capitalist economy depends on war as business: more armament, more soldiers, more establishment expenses. Capitalist economies thrived till the 2008 U.S. recession, and now they need emerging economies like BRICS countries for a broader market.

After the 1991 economic liberalisation brought in former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, India became self-reliant. India is now giving billions of dollars in loans to the U.S. A capitalist economy is always prone to recession, as happened to the U.S. in the Great Depression of 1929 because there was a lack of inclusive development.

Today, Detroit, once a hub of car manufacturing companies worldwide, suffers a massive recession. People struggle with colossal debt.

The future lies in an economy with social face, as expounded by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen.

Quality corporate entrepreneurial models in India are far and few between. Many entrepreneurs create wealth for themselves and their families only, never sharing their profit with employees. They even promote their business model as the only creator of employment.

But a few great entrepreneurs also came along, like Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar and Phaneesh Murthy, who took full advantage of economic liberalisation and created massive wealth for their organizations but also shared the wealth with their employees through giving company shares and dividing profits. Regarding the creation of employment opportunities, perhaps their organisations are the best in the world.

The future of India relies on a social welfare economy but never a capitalist economy.

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