Comments on: US Elections- An Indian Perspective

By: Prasanth

Prasanth — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:11:57 +0000

(contd…)But what I dont understand is why people in India are backing Obama, as they will be the worst affected because of his policies, if he is to keep all the promises he made. Most of them seem to be ardent supporters of Obama..see here..http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Now_Bangalore_techies_root_for_Barack_Obama/articleshow/3669298.cms

By: Madhavan

Madhavan — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:49:02 +0000

Folks,

Ibnlive and Businessweek had articles today(Nov.4).If you are interested, you can read those at

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/obama-or-mccain-who-should-india-root-for/77392-2.html

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/nov2008/gb2008113_673692.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

By: Prasanth

Prasanth — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:20:23 +0000

Despite Obama’s stance on outsourcing/h1b issues, American citizens of Indian origin, still might prefer him if they fall under the 250,000 $ regime, because all those middle class people want to ride out a recession. As things stand, the primary focus of the people (American PIO s are not an exception) is the economical situation, and everything else is of much less importance for them.This proves to be a good ground for Obama, and he played the sentiments very well, and I think it is going to pay off.

The situation was somewhat similar when Hitler and his Nazi party were promising a change in Germany and this came at a time when the Germans were paying a billion Reich marks for a loaf of bread. (No offence to Obama, and I am not comparing him to Hitler, or the Nazi party..I’m not here for any troubles of course! I just wanted to mention people’s reaction to such a difficult situation ) The Nazi’s became the largest party in the 1932 elections working the worst economic situation to their advantage. The point is naturally people who are suffering would want a change whether he is of Indian origin or some other ethnicity. As long as they are American citizens, and they think Obama can bring a change, I dont think it makes sense for them to reject Obama.

By: Kandamangalam

Kandamangalam — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:58:19 +0000

I agree with Karthick. Don’t think there will be a fallout on the relationship with India irrespective of who comes to power. Obama’s change motto has been an inspiration and I think the world is getting ready to see the change.

Remember this quote ?
“If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you will keep getting what you’ve always gotten” – Very much applies to McCain

Time for Change !!!

By: Sid

Sid — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:28:32 +0000

Folks I think outsourcing is here to stay. I don’t think outsourcing is no longer about cost arbitrage or staff augmentation.

Yes, there are players who still provide this, but the major corps are now moving towards more on gaining expertise and making it a specialization.

Driving it to an extent that the outsourcing organization perhaps don;t have any contextual knowledge about the work outsourced left with them (a bit of exaggeration). As it progresses I think things like outsourcing because of less cost would stop, but expertise will continue

By: Kanika

Kanika — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:08:35 +0000

Hi,
After all the hype created over the US presidential elections over the past months, the big day is finally here.
If you were given a choice who would you cast your vote for?
Don’t think anymore. Do it now. I did it.

http://www.iftheworldcouldvote.com/

By: Hussain

Hussain — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:09:35 +0000

I wonder how difficult it will be to outsource more work to India after Mr. Obama takes the chair. Are we nearing the end of outsourcing now??

By: Karthick R

Karthick R — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:57:32 +0000

An interesting perspective. My personal opinion is, no matter who comes to power, a republican or a democrat, their relationship with respect to India will not have a major difference. Ofcourse, the visa and the outsourcing policies might be different. However, when taken US alone, I feel that Obama is someone who is bringing in a change to the current situation. McCain’s policies doesn’t look very different to that of Bush.

I would like to see Obama win and see a change in dynamics. Lets face it, most of the jobs are outsourced to India for cheap labor than for the expertise. [eg: Call center]. I dont know how sustainable this is. If the US economy need those jobs for their people, then itz their prerogative. I want to see India emerge as a less dependent nation and Obama’s election as president will provide us the right opportunity to devise a framework, where our growth is based on our strengths not on others weakness.

By: Mahesh

Mahesh — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 06:36:23 +0000

…and I always thought ‘Obama’ was the man (without prejudice). It would be quite interesting to look at the transition that is expected after the presidential polls. For sure, a radical change is in the making in US thought process. A recent global opinion survey mentioned the challenges US would have from developing economies (BRIC). I think the core philisophy of being an open market society would be put to acid test, considering the situation the global financial markets are in today. Lets hope for the best…

By: Madhavan

Madhavan — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 03:55:28 +0000

Thanks for you comments. Many of the recent articles and Op-eds in WSJ have been written by staunch Republicans. Many of them have been echoing the sentiment that Obama will rewrite the constitution and change USA to a socialist(and in some cases, communist)/welfare nation and portraying a doomsday scenario for businesses under an Obama administration. This made me come to a conclusion about the “unabashed” stance of WSJ.If we analyse it deeply, it is quite logical. WSJ thrives on a good business environment and their readers are mostly professionals(many above the $250K Tax threshold) whose interests are better served under Republicans. So they are playing to the gallery. But they seem to be trying to bring some neutrality in opinion since they also have readers who are Democrats. Here are some recent WSJ articles that support my thought.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122533157015082889.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122523804578478175.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122523845602478211.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122506507943370505.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122523858126178227.html

By: Aashim

Aashim — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 02:34:32 +0000

Very well Written. I fully agree that Republicans will work better for India.

I take issue with one comment though: You say that the WSJ is unabashedly anti Obama; yet in a recent editorial they support Obama.

By: Sid

Sid — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:00:48 +0000

Very well elucidated…

Thanks Madhavan for giving a quick snapshot!