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All politicians may not be statesmen; but all statesmen are, ultimately, politicians. In democracy, good politics is all about appealing to popular sentiments.

And that is what president Barack Obama did superbly when he delivered his Budget speech on February 24, at the joint session of the US Congress. Speeches do not solve problems, but they do help mobillize people. It is difficult to believe that any major change will happen without peoples active participation. So exciting people is as important in todays environment as devising policy measures to bring the national economy back on track. Critics may call it populism, but that is the essence of democracy. It becomes negative only when a politician deliberately tries to mislead people.

We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before, said Obama, straight from the heart, with lots of belief, lots of reason, and without jingoism.

Yet, the next day, India woke up to the news of president Obamas plans to curb outsourcing by American companies. We hear what we want to hear!

And we immediately went into the reaction mode. Journalists started asking for comments and the industry top brass obliged.

Now theres nothing wrong about reacting to something as important as the US presidents comment about the direction that his economy is going to take, if it impacts us. The reaction, however, should be in sync with the action.

But didnt he refer to ending tax concessions for companies that offshore?

Sure, he did.

Let us examine what he said. ...we will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas. That is exactly twenty-five words in a 6000-word speech. But that is not the point.

The point is: why are we overreacting?

It is a no-brainer that what is the top-of-the-mind concern for the average American today is jobs. In fact, the president acknowledged as much, in the beginning. Its an agenda that begins with jobs, he said.

His sincerity to create/save jobs is not questionable. What is questionable is whether he can continue with active discouragement of offshoring in the long-term. Economics does not support that. And no, unlike what the Indian industry has said, it is not about US industrys competitiveness; it is about its survival. It is also about survival of US as the biggest power. So, that will change. The reactions will not change that. Economic reality will change that. Politics usually wins battles against economics. Economics always wins the war.

I do not think this is something that the Indian industry does not know.

What, however, is the point of contention is that in the short run the US may still try to do that. And you have every reason to believe that Obama would keep his words in some way or the other, as he seriously tries to achieve the first target on his agenda.

So, what is the option? Simple: create jobs in the US. Yes, economics does not support it; but realities demand it. What stops Indian companies from acquiring US firms which they can now get at a fraction of the valuation? That will not only save US jobs, it will prove their commitment to the US market. It will also allow them to get into projects that will see government spending as part of the presidents stimulus plan. Money will be spent on healthcare, education, infrastructure. The opportunity for Indian companies is huge.

But it requires a little change in thinking. A little more risk. A little more deviation from what they are used to for decades. A little more flexibility.

But these are extraordinary times. If we do not change ourselves now, when else can we do that?

Shyamanuja Das
The author is Editor of Dataquest. shyamanujad@cybermedia.co.in

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