The gist of Mail Today's front-page story is bewildering. It says that upwardly mobile Indians between 15 and 24 years spend pocket money worth Rs 900 crore a day. The yearly figure in that case comes to Rs 3,28,500 crore which is three times India's Defence budget for the current year and 10 times the allotment for education in the Union Budget. And, this is what the paper says youngsters spend as pocket money only!

If one adds the spendings of the 25-45 years age group, the amount would be stupefying. This is based on an MTV survey done at Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Pune. The story also claimed that the survey was conducted by 150 world experts. I cannot vouchsafe for these figures because the size of the survey has not been mentioned. This despite the fact that the Supreme Court has directed organisations to publish the size of the sample.

India is spending more; youngsters are spending much more. Spending habits of Indians are changing. This is very good as per economist Jagdish Bhagwati who told Manmohan Singh that a nation cannot grow unless people spend. Not just spend but also borrow to spend. He advised him to ask consumers to spend on imported cars, cosmetics as this he felt would put India on the growth curve.

This is one reason MNCs are coming to India. "Saving is sin and spending in virtue", Bhagwati said. This resembles Charvak's famous saying, "Yavat jeevait, sukham jeevait rinam kritva ghritam peevait. Bhasmi bhutasya dehasya, punragarmam kutah" (Eat drink and be merry as long you live. Take loan to eat butter, for there is no re-birth.)

Make sure some fools save for you, so that you can borrow, spend and enjoy. This is the philosophy, the Western society, particularly the US, has adopted. The Americans save around one per cent of their income. They import more than their exports. Their State deficit is astronomical. They spend from borrowings from Japan, China and even India. In fact, most nations save so that US can spend. India keeps foreign currency worth $300 billion. China keeps much more than India in US securities.

Japan's stakes in US securities is in trillions. The US borrows 2 billion dollars a day to maintain its consumerist economy. This is the economic state of affairs of the mightiest country in the world! Some day, it is bound to collapse. Whatever US-based professor Jagdish Bhagwati may say, this is not at all in tune with the Indian economic and social ethos.

Indians look down upon loan culture and America is surviving on it. An average credit card threat shows borrowings of $9000 a card and a person can have many cards. Nation-wide credit card debt in the US is $800,000,000. People spend expected earnings of the next three years.

In India, the poorest of the poor saves for a rainy day; for the daughter's marriage, for crop failure and other contingencies. Our savings rate is 35 per cent in addition to 43 per cent investments. China's savings are 50 per cent. Eastern countries are sociologically conditioned to savings.

Japan, under American thumb, tried to reduce savings by rapidly decreasing interest rates in banks. Now a stage has come that Japanese banks charge some percentage for keeping money in safe deposits. But still the Japanese are saving, for culturally they are savings minded.

The type of story I have mentioned above appears in the media quite often, provoking people to spend more. Banks are virtually begging people to take loans. Consumer durables are easily available on installments. But when someone is not in a position to pay EMIs, hired goons harass the loanee. Even Supreme Court has come down heavily on this practice.

Our culture considers satisfaction as the supreme wealth (santosham parmam dhammam). But here the TV channels are bombarding senses of the viewers and Shah Rukh Khan says, 'Don't be satisfied, wish more', meaning thereby that always remain dissatisfied with what you have.

Millions are engaged in the rat race of consumerism, neglecting happiness and children. Materialism is dished out to every school-going child. Cut-throat competition is today's religion.

Indian philosophy believes in self-actualisation. Every individual has physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional assets through which he can attain materialistic heights without cut-throat competition.

The MNCs cannot understand this. That is why the chain of Kentucky fried chicken flops here and that is why Kellogg's has not done well. Those MNCs who understand the taste and social culture of India are doing well. Glorifying the spending habits of youngsters is wrong. We must not follow American economic pattern.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.conm, May 25, 2008