Billionaire Raj by James Crabtree is an overview of the growth of billionaire oligarchs post the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991. The name “Billionaire raj” (“raj” ~ empire/rule) is an homage to the phrase “License Raj”. The term “License Raj” describes the rule of the erstwhile socialist Indian government that used to pick winners with a license to operate. Many of the “lucky” billionaires who had access under the License Raj have now built their empires.
For people who follow Indian politics and news, much of the book might be a compilation of well-known news — although Crabtree sheds some intriguing new light on well-known personalities. Two interviews stand out. A series of discussions with Arnab Goswami reveals the truth about journalism in New India. The interviews with the family of Prime Minister Modi sheds light on a leader who has (admirably compared to other Indian politicians) kept his family away from his political life.
This topic could have easily become a telenovela screenplay as most Indian scandals follow the tropes and archetypes known the world over. Bitter fraternal rivalry – check (The Ambanis). Party-boy antics – check (Mallya). Dynastic politics – check (Yadavs in UP). The meteoric rise of a curious unknown – check (Adani). However, Crabtree is a careful observer, who articulates nuances that fly by even the most seasoned visitors to India. He makes some astute observations and even proposes some theories that are worth fleshing out.
The best example is the BCCI-IPL cricket scandal which is more “inside baseball” opaque to a casual reader. There are many distracting “juicy” side scandals like sports betting, Bollywood, love-lives of cricketers, and secret diaries of (imported) cheerleaders. However, the main scandal is a riddle wrapped in an enigma: a hard-to-disentangle accounting scandal of arcane bylaws, featuring N. Srinivasan (a religious business executive and a long-time benefactor of struggling cricketers, flexing his grey cells and his Rolodex). Crabtree zooms right into the epicenter of the controversy.
Corruption Down South
States in South India that are more developed are not any less corrupt than states in North India. This fact may surprise some people. What gives? Crabtree makes solid comparisons of South India to the economies in South East Asia.
Success and growth in South India are not despite politics but due to it. The ugly pay-to-play politics encourages an export-oriented development and profit skimming by “chosen winners”, as observed by one of my favorite books: How Asia Works. Crabtree holds up very complicated Jayalalithaa and CB Naidu as exemplars of Samuel Huntington’s theory about corruption and growth hand-in-hand. They are both benevolent semi-dictators with a nous for the pulse of the citizens, both cognizant of electoral strength, and who after several missteps, looked for development through “participatory corruption” and “competitive populism”.
Crabtree observes idiosyncratic curiosities of my hometown Chennai’s local elite: “a people who rose early, spent frugally, and venerated pursuits of mind, from calculus to Carnatic classical music.” I’d say it is an accurate description.
Crabtree also proposes a curious theory about Prime Minister Modi, whose mix of economic optimism and religious fundamentalism is the subject of many news stories. He suggests that the PM who strives to be “popular, honest and economically imaginative” may be unable to restrain (rather than choosing not to restrain) the more extreme elements of his party, partly because they are now perceived to be critical to driving his electoral success. This is similar to the Republican dilemma between the party establishment and renegade tea party in the 2000s — first came the wave of victories and then came the schism. I am optimistic about India, so I am curious to see how Crabtree’s theory unfolds.
Notes:
How Asia Works by Joe Studwell.
Political Order in Changing Societies by Samuel Huntington.
See Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in New China by Evan Osnos, for a comparable analysis, of the nouveau riche in modern China.