ABSTRACT
The kinds of economic assets that people need to fix on are quite specific things. Great assets exert a kind of gravitational force on economic activity that persists for decades or even centuries. Economic assets are managed assets, and not merely natural phenomena. Economies grow and become more productive by the creation of new assets and the flowering of their creative potential. Yet it remains unmistakably true that American people—including this American person—are very anxious about how we as a nation are going to maintain our record of creating new assets. The role of government is not, however, to manage operations or economic assets. In that tradition, business is set in opposition to government and political and dynastic forces posed in opposition to private business. A business that limps along, losing money and probably alienating customers is a wasteful exercise. The Indian administration finds this offer enticing, although it faces deep domestic opposition.
