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There are two reasons why India will soon start to outpace China. One is demography. China’s workforce will shortly start ageing in a few years’ time, it will start shrinking. That’s because of its one-child policy—an oppressive measure that no Indian government would get away with. Indira Gandhi tried something similar in the 1970s, when she called a state of emergency and introduced a forced-sterilisation programme. There was an uproar of protest. Democracy was restored and coercive population policies were abandoned. India is now blessed with a young and growing workforce. Its dependency ratio—the proportion of children and old people to working-age adults—is one of the best in the world and will remain so for a generation. India’s economy will benefit from this “demographic dividend”, which has powered many of Asia’s economic miracles.
The second reason for optimism is India’s much-derided democracy. The notion that democracy retards development in poor countries has gained currency in recent years. Certainly, it has its disadvantages. Elected governments bow to the demands of selfish factions and interest groups. Even the most urgent decisions are endlessly debated and delayed.
China does not have this problem. When its technocrats decide to dam a river, build a road or move a village, the dam goes up, the road goes down and the village disappears. The displaced villagers may be compensated, but they are not allowed to stand in the way of progress. China’s leaders make rational decisions that balance the needs of all citizens over the long term. This has led to rapid, sustained growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Small wonder that authoritarians everywhere cite China as their best excuse not to allow democracy just yet.

A. 어휘
outpace 앞지르다. demography 인구문제, 인구통계학.
ageing 老化(노화). shrinking 축소, 收縮(수축).
oppressive measure 강압적인 조치. get away with 謀免(모면)하다, 잘해내다.
a state of emergency 국가비상사태. forced-sterilisation 强制不姙(강제불임).
uproar 대소동, 소란. restore 復古(복고)하다. coercive 강제적인.
abandon 단념하다, 포기하다. dependency ratio 의존비율.
dividend 이익배당, 여분의 것, 덤, 被除數(피제수).
miracles 기적. deride 비웃다, 嘲弄(조롱)하다. retard 遲滯(지체)시키다.
currency 유행, 流布(유포), 聲價(성가), 평판, 通貨(통화).
factions 당파, 徒黨(도당). interest groups 이익집단. urgent 시급한.
delay 遲延(지연)시키다. technocrats 기술관료.
displaced villagers 離散(이산)된 마을사람들.
compensate 보상하다. stand in the way 방해하다.
rational 합리적인. sustained 지속적인.
hundreds of millions of people 數億(수억)의 사람들.
authoritarians 전체주의자들, 독재자들. cite 예로 들다, 인용하다.