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About Us
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The ICA Institute
is a non-profit research institute working to
foster research and dissemination of
knowledge on the rise of China and India and
their impact on global markets, global
resources and geopolitics of the world. The
ICA Institute's mission is to generate new
perspectives on the role of market and
resource driven economic development. ICA
Institute fosters interaction and dialogue
between academic scholars, industry leaders
and policy makers on the impact of emerging
economies in general and China and India in
particular. Specifically, The ICA Institute is
positioned to be a catalyst between faculty
and students in International Business and
industry leaders and managers.
www.icainstitute.org
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Events & Announcements
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 Webinar: Competing with Emerging-market Multinationals:
The Case of India
(ICA Institute | Feb )
Ravi Ramamurti
Director of the Center for Emerging Markets, Northeastern University.
Wednesday, February 10, 2009
11:30 AM - 12:45 PM EST
Click here
to Register.
 Call for Papers: Journal of Emerging Knowledge on
Emerging Markets (JEKEM)
(ICA Institute | Jan )
Announcing
preparations for the second issue of the India, China & America
Institute's new Working Papers Journal, Journal of Emerging Knowledge on
Emerging Markets to be published in May 2010. This journal provides a
forum
for the exchange of ideas and shared learning experiences among policy
makers, scholars and practitioners on the global economic impact of
India,
China and America.
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From Our Publications
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This paper examines the motives underlying recent cross border M&A
activity undertaken by Indian IT firms during 2000 -2006. It
hypothesizes that overseas acquisition is the IT firm�s response to a
dynamic competitive landscape in which it simultaneously leveraged
existing capabilities to capture new markets and acquired new
capabilities through strategic asset and product seeking acquisitions.
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Quotes of the Issue
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 "If China is producing 40 high-speed rail lines and we're producing one, we're not going to have the infrastructure of the future. If India or South Korea are producing more scientists and engineers than we are, we will not succeed..." -President Barack Obama(The Economic Times | Feb 21)
"..There isn't a causal connection-they (China & India) are not growing because of our (American) decline. One day, they will likely have economies larger than ours. But we can't go around hoping that poor countries will stay poor. Moreover, their growth will lift us, too, if we make smart investments (see number 1) because their new middle-class consumers will buy quality American products..."
-Nina Hachigia, Senior Fellow at American Progress
(www.americanprogress.org | Mar 3)
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Books
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 The rise of "euro-emerging" multinationals
(The ETurkish Weekly | Feb 21)
Until recently a dominant share of FDI simply went from OECD nation to OECD nation. The decade has seen some important new trends of the "multipolar world" type. FDI from emerging countries has been on the rise (an Indian steel company buying a Belgian steel company). But emerging markets have also become more important as destinations of FDI, above all from OECD multinationals. This trend will continue over the next decade and will keep on transforming profoundly OECD corporations that are incorporating more and more emerging markets in their core activities.
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Headlines
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Does India's government pay any heed to its economic advisers?
(Economist | Mar 4)
To help the poor plod a bit faster out of deprivation, the government will spend almost 1.9 trillion rupees ($41 billion) this year on social services and rural development-including education, health and a workfare scheme for the rural poor-by the end of this fiscal year. That some of this money has reached the poor ... is demonstrated by the rising price of the foods they buy. Indeed, inflation (or "skewflation", ... calls the lopsided rise in prices) is now the government's biggest political headache
China's Hidden Debt Risks 2012 Crisis, Northwestern's Shih Says
(Bloomberg | Mar 3)
China's hidden borrowing may push government debt to 96 percent of gross domestic product next year, increasing the risk of a financial crisis in the world's third-biggest economy, Professor Victor Shih said.
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Policy | Politics
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China Editorial Urges Sweeping Change to Household Registration
(WSJ | Mar 1)
Thirteen local Chinese newspapers published an editorial urging authorities to reform the system of household registration that divides China's rural and urban residents, in a bold call for reform days ahead of the start of the country's annual legislative session.
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Capital Markets
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Morgan Stanley retreats from China, private equity is in
(Market Watch | Feb 23)
Morgan Stanley is exiting its major investment in China, the latest in a string of retreats by U.S. firms stung by the financial crisis and unable to seize the opportunities in one of the world's fastest-growing economies. The move represents a shifting balance of power in the global financial balance. Traditional Wall Street firms such as Morgan Stanley have been forced to rethink costly international expansion, seeking to add cash to their balance sheets and control risk in their core businesses.
China Restates Intention to Hold Currency's Exchange Rate Steady
(New York Times | Feb 25)
China reaffirmed its determination Thursday to hold down the renminbi's exchange rate to help its beleaguered exporters. Beijing is under pressure, especially from the United States and the European Union, to let the currency rise to relieve exporters in those countries and so reduce their big trade deficits with China.
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Environment | Climate Change
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 China, India adding to e-waste timebomb: UN
(AFP | Feb 22)
"Sales of electronic products in countries like China and India and across continents such as Africa and Latin America are set to rise sharply in the next 10 years," the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report. "And unless action is stepped up to properly collect and recycle materials, many developing countries face the spectre of hazardous e-waste mountains with serious consequences for the environment and public health."
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InfoComm | Technology
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India firm Bharti Airtel goes big into African cellphone market
(Christian Science Monitor | Mar 1)
Bharti Airtel, an Indian company, paid $9 billion for access to an African cellphone market serving 45 million. The world's last unsaturated market holds a potentially huge payoff. Bharti has 119 million customers in India, making up 23 percent of the Indian market - but stiff competition and a punishing price war among several providers has brought down profit margins. This makes the Zain deal a chance to boost profits in a less competitive and high-growth market.
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Education & Work Force Development
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Will skilled worker immigrants help keep America relevant?
(Christian Science Monitor | Feb 27)
54 percent of these strivers are coming here from India....Many of these researchers come in through the country's H-1B visa program, which is for skilled immigrants. The majority of these immigrants come from India, and the next biggest group comes from China.
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Health | Medicine
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 Bitter melon shows promise in protecting against, treating breast cancer: study
(NY Daily News | Feb 24)
Researchers have found that an extract from bitter melon, a vegetable commonly found in India, China and South America, may protect women from breast cancer, according to reports. Bitter melon extract, sold in U.S. health food stores as well as on the Internet, is used in folk remedies for diabetes because of its blood-sugar lowering capabilities, according to the researchers.
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Industry | Manufacturing
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Death of manufacturing in America
(Times of India | Feb 27)
The most evocative example of America's loss is the story of the cell phone. The first cell phone, DynaTAC 8000X, was developed in 1983 by Motorola, an American company. Of the 1.2 billion cell phones that were sold across the world last year, not one was manufactured in America. For Larsen and his ilk, who built the United States with their skilled hands, "Made in America" is a fast-fading memory, a historic footnote. If you find something "Made in America," better stash it away. It could be worth a lot for money - as a collector's item.
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Innovation
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U.S. Loses Innovation Crown to ... Iceland
(Business Week | Mar 3)
Several of the biggest nations in the developed world cluster just below the U.S. Japan is 13, with Britain at 14, and Germany at 16. Of the so-called BRIC giants in emerging markets, China comes out best, at 43. Trailing are India (56), Russia (64), and Brazil (68)...So where does the U.S. score best? In market and business sophistication, which includes access to capital and openness to foreign competition and where it rises to second and third.
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Infrastructure | Real Estate
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 Why China Can't Cool Its Overheated Real Estate Boom
(Daily Finance | Feb 27)
The key difference between China's current real estate bubble and the U.S. bubble that popped in 2007 is this: In the U.S., it was individuals and lenders who made overleveraged, speculative bets via subprime mortgages. In China, explained Northwestern University researcher Victor Shih to NPR, the leveraged debt fueling the speculation comes from local governments, which have borrowed trillions of dollars worth of funds from China's banking system to develop real estate projects in their jurisdictions.
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Opinions
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When too much good is bad
(Strait Times | Feb 24)
"...just because you have a college degree does not mean you are skilled. In India, you can buy a degree pretty cheap, there are many ways to get around the system...After all, India and China's top students overwhelmingly still aspire to live in the US, attracted by notions of freedom and liberty, unlike the practical and non-ideological reasons they come here, because it is a safe place to bring up children or do business..."
 Paper Tiger: China's No Threat to the U.S.
(Business Week | Feb 27)
China is actually much more vulnerable than America, and has fewer economic options compared with the U.S. than is commonly assumed. China sold an estimated $34 billion in T-bills in December. Some people see this as evidence of Beijing's economic leverage. Unfortunately for their argument, though, the sell-off barely created a ripple. This is because Beijing's capacity to wreak havoc on the American dollar is overstated.
There's a new Red Scare. But is China really so scary?
(Thw Washington Post | Feb 28)
This is not to say that China isn't doing many things right or that we couldn't learn a thing or two from our Chinese friends. But in large part, politicians, activists and commentators push the new Red Scare to advance particular agendas in Washington. If you want to promote clean energy and get the government to invest in this sector, what better way to frame the issue than as a contest against the Chinese and call it the "new Sputnik"? Want to resuscitate the F-22 fighter jet? No better country than China to invoke as the menace of the future.
 China: A New Economic Model?
(Times | Mar 1)
The sickest part of the "mixed" economies in Europe and India was state-controlled industry. And you can make the case that the same is true in China today. The major troubles facing the Chinese economy right now - ballooning property prices and a looming bad loan problem - are a result of bureaucrats thinking they can turn on and off the banking sector like a desk lamp. A hefty portion of the loans made during last year's credit explosion went to state companies and local governments - a sign that perhaps this lending was driven by government policy, not necessarily the actual needs of the economy.
 10 things to remember about America and decline
(Center for American Progress | Mar 3)
Has America Lost Its Mojo?
"...I had to be honest that Americans are in the dumps. Many of us are experiencing the hardest times of our lives, and meanwhile China, India, and others seem to have bounced right back. Our national gloom explains why the ruminations on America's decline are coming fast and furious. Book titles tell the story: The Post American World, The End of Influence, When China Rules the World, Freefall..."
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Sincerely,
ICA Institute
Please send your comments/suggestions to prashant.das@icainstitute.org
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