“Ye market kab khulega reeeeeeeeee...,” tweeted one liberal commenter on a Friday morning, well past 10 AM. Her excitement came through in the extraordinary number of e’s in that sentence. Presumably, she was waiting for shares of Adani group companies to drop. Even though she does not appear to know when markets actually open, nor how to find out.
This is just an example of the unreasoned glee in certain sections over the recent fight between the Adani group and a US-based short seller. Another journalist who has recently lost his job, but not his delusions of grandeur, tweeted to his millions of fans about Adani being caught out by a “global research institution.”
How could such a confusion have happened? Probably because the US-based short seller goes by the name “Hindenburg Research.” In other words, speak now, read later. So what would explain the bizarre emotional reactions all around to a fight between a billionaire and a short-seller? What are the lessons for the general public, the media, the ruling BJP and its supporters, as well as the opposition and its ecosystem?
Here are six takeaways from this still developing story. In my defense, I waited at least two weeks.
1) The Indian financial system is rock solid
2) Was the Hindenburg report an ‘American conspiracy’ against India?
3) We Indians need to get used to the bruising battles of capitalism
4) What is the lesson for the opposition and its ecosystem?
5) What is the lesson for BJP and its supporters?
6) India’s economy and politics have now been internationalized
This was bound to happen one day. The sheer size of the Indian economy will now attract every kind of player. Going ahead, the impact of each policy decision will be in billions of dollars. That means both our economy and our politics will be internationalized. For example, George Soros pledged close to a billion dollars to stop Modi at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2020. Right now, we have only seen international players get involved in our national level politics. Before this decade is out, we will see the impact at the state, and even the city level.
In other words, it is going to get serious. And quite scary. Meanwhile, if you would like to hear about crony capitalism, I could tell you a story about a distant land, a car company, and a Prime Minister who just couldn’t say no to her son. Read More On..
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