It was a meeting of two worlds - one bogged down by the subprime crisis and the other feeling the brunt of it but optimistic about the opportunities ahead of it -- as two authors, Thomas Friedman and Nandan Nilekani, provided a perspective on both the US and Indian economies.
In a discussion here yesterday titled "Imagining India in a hot, flat and crowded world", the two drew parallels and differences in the US and Indian economies while sharing their views on changing scenario in both countries.
The greatest worry that troubled Friedman, the well known US journalist and author of various books, including the best seller "The World is Flat", is whether the US government would be able to pull through the multi-generational problems, including healthcare, pension reforms energy.
Unless addressed, all these problems could "sink the ship", he said. "Our government doesn't work anymore", he said while wondering whether the new government would be able to address these problems and pull the country through.
"What Americans want is nation-building at home" and not outside the country, he said.
Infosys co-Chairman Nilekani said what was worrying in India "is the dissonance in opportunities that India had and political chaos. If India could not cash on its opportunities in next five years, it could lose the game".
