 "Anand Sharma ko gussa kyo aata hain?")
Never mess around with your boss when he is in a bad mood. We all learn this on the first day of our job. Goldman Sachs has not yet learnt it. They have came out with a report at a time when the government's nervousness is touching an all time high.
Goldman Sachs in its report did not just criticize the government, it committed a bigger sin. It used the 'M' word. The title of the report 'Modi-fying our view' was enough to tick off the entire government. The report then went on to call Modi as an 'agent of change' and his party BJP a 'business friendly' one(now that was really hitting below the belt). No congressman can take that lying down, at least one of them could not.
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Anand Sharma, commerce and industry minister, who could not manage to bring in a single mutli-brand retail company since the much acclaimed clearance of the retail FDI bill, jumped at the chance to prove his loyalty to his party. He charged Goldman Sachs in an interview to Economic Times of messing around with India's domestic politics, an area which it seems is the reserve of Indian politicians.
He went on to say that Goldman is parading its ignorance about the basic facts of Indian economy and the agency which has left behind a graveyard of failed predictions and projections will only expose themselves further by trying to mess around with Indian politics. Now that's a left and a right hook from the minister, unfortunately one missed and one landed on Goldman's jaw.
There is nothing wrong in the fundamental facts presented by Goldman. Infact the report says that there are green shoots which signal a possible recovery. Sharma seems to have lost his cool by reading the headline and missed out reading the fine print.
But he is right in saying Goldman has left behind a graveyard of failed predictions and projections. Goldman like most other research firms have to take the blame for failing to predict the financial crisis and creating myths like BRICS.
But they are in the game of predictions and that is how they make money. They are the modern day equivalent of a 'baba' who uses excel sheets rather than the position of sun, moon and stars to predict the future. Like the babas, they are right in some cases and wrong in others. It is human nature that holds on to the predictions that have gone right and then hope that the next one will be right too and profitable for them.
If you listen to a relationship manager from any broking firm, he will be boasting about the calls that have gone right and then market the next one, enticing his clients to trade.
The point is entities like Goldman Sachs have to predict and make stories that are saleable. And mention of Modi does attract attention not just for the media but also for broking houses. Goldman has barely used the pre-election poll results in predicting the general elections, there is nothing wrong in that.
With nothing much to claim in their second innings, Congress has been talking of the various 'Rights' they have cleared, like the right to information, right to food amongst other. Goldman Sachs is entitled to its views. As for Anand Sharma, he has just exercised his right to get jittery.