Something to ponder about : Jim Rogers loves, but is short India
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Billionaire Hedge fund manager Jim Rogers, who moved to Singapore in 2007 because he thought the centre of the world is shifting to Asia, says India is set to miss out on the Asian century. The chairman of Rogers Holdings says that if there is one country an individual must visit, it has to be India for its “spectacular sensory feast, beautiful, food, colour and religions”, but it is also the worst country to do business in.
Rogers also slammed the Indian government’s recent curbs on gold imports, saying Indian citizens had no choice but to buy the metal because they had very little faith in investing in other sectors of its economy. In an interview, Rogers spoke about the financial crisis and his bets for the future and defended his decision to be extremely negative about India.
The government goes from one mistake to another— no matter what the controls are, no matter how much the debt keeps rising, Indian politicians are only looking for scapegoats.
India should have been among the world’s greatest agriculture nations— you have the soil, the people, the weather, but it is astonishing that you have not become one— it is because Indian politicians, in their wisdom, have made it illegal for farmers to own more than five hectares of land. What the hell— can a farmer with just five hectares compete with someone in Australia or Canada? Even if you put together the land in all your family, it is still not possible to compete. Much as I love India, I am not a fan of its government. Every one year, they (Indian government) come up with more reasons for me to be less optimistic about that country.
On comparisons with China, he said : If India’s growth over the last couple of years was comparable to that of China, where are the schools, the highways, the infrastructure, the housing, where has it all gone?
There are millions of entrepreneurial, driven and smart Indians, but most of them want to be abroad because they know that unless they are involved with the right people in India, they are not going to be successful. In India, many of its companies are successful because of their links with the government. Apart from a couple of software companies and a few exceptions, I literally cannot think of Indian firms who have made it big in the international scene.
PS : Jim Rogers co-founded Quantum hedge fund along with George Soros. In the next 10 years, their portfolio gained 4200%
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