My economic observations as an international student...

A typical Indian grocery shop. The guy behind the counter gives you what you ask for. You can't go in an grab for yourself whatever you want :P.

A typical US grocery store - Pick what you like! :)

I am an international student at Ohio State and this is my second year here. I am from India and as most of you would know, India is a developing country. I am really happy for the fact that I could come to the US to pursue higher education because in the small amount of time that I have been here, I seem to have learned a lot about the world outside of home through mere observation and drawing comparisons between India, a developing country and the US, a developed country. I like thinking about how different the two countries are in terms of culture and I often try to figure out specific aspects of it that make the two countries hugely different.

Every time I go to the mall or maybe even a grocery store close to my apartment, I am almost always awestruck by the wide variety of products available on every aisle. If I were looking for say a bag of chips, I would have an endless number of brands/flavors to choose from. The clothing stores boast of a countless variety of different brands of outfits and I don't have to worry about size because there is always a size available that would fit me. This is probably nothing unusual for most of you who have been here all your life but for someone like me, being in a developed country and observing all the products made available to the consumers here has got me thinking that there is definitely something about how this country functions that makes it so very different from my homeland. And then I realized it's the ECONOMY! It's the different economic conditions that exist in the two countries that contribute to the many ways they differ from each other.

Thanks to the econ 201 class that I'm taking right now and thanks to Kyle because this class has really helped answer some of the questions I've had pertaining to why/how the US gets to enjoy as much material wealth as it does whereas the developing/under-developed countries of the world do not. Now, don't get me wrong. India is not a country with no shopping malls and grocery stores that sell only a single brand of chips. There are huge shopping malls in big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, etc. However, if you were to visit some of the rural parts of India, the conditions are totally different. You won't see malls or grocery stores. What you will mostly get to see is small shops on the roadside selling a bunch of basic need products. A considerable chunk of India is rural and so for the most part, India is not as well off as the US in terms of consumer wealth.

So what is it exactly about the US economy that makes it possible for such a wide range of products to be available to its consumers? I think it's the advanced technology that helps the abundant production of different types of goods and items in less time and with the use of less labor. Also, international trade has enabled the US make profits off of inexpensive labor available overseas. Also, that way the labor that is available in the US gets assigned other kinds of tasks that they can make more money out of. Remember, the Tiger Woods example from class...

This has helped the US make enormous profits and as a result, good quality products are available to US consumers at nominal rates. I remember how Kyle said in class that it used to take almost a day's worth of work for our great grandparents to earn a loaf of bread but now all it takes is about 7 minutes for us to be able to buy the same thing. Wow! Although, I'm happy for the huge advancements made by the US in this direction, I do wish the Indian economy would grow as well so as to allow for the use of more and more technology and greater involvement in international trade.

Also, I really like the concept of "minimum wage" here in the US. It helps ensure everyone gets paid what they deserve. I do not really know if such a rule is strictly followed in other parts of India but in my hometown, there are instances where employees would be underpaid. Maidservants in a lot of homes are usually paid only about Rs.7 an hour and the price of a loaf of bread in India is around Rs.18. So I guess a person in India would have to work more to be able to buy a certain product than would a person in the US. I thought that was an interesting observation. One of the reasons why labor is so cheap in India is probably because of the huge population. Everyone is looking for work. So, I guess the Indian economy likes to rely on the cheap labor that is readily available rather than on technology which would obviously prove to be a lot more expensive.