Will the Arrogant South be Humbled by the North?

He further pushes his argument by noting that in 2010, out of the six Indian states that grew faster than 10 percent, none of them was from south India. Growth has slowed down, even as south Indian states experienced a decline in the competence of their leaders.

Apart from electing better, the north has three other things going for them: The economic isolation, the global commodities boom and the demographic edge. The North remained isolated from the credit boom and hence remained unaffected during the credit crisis that followed it. They have large reserves of natural resources such as coal and iron, and most of the country’s steel and power plant projects. Half of the country’s youth reside in the North.

So, what does this mean to the South? Firstpost takes an interesting look at it. Having started very low, the North has nowhere else to go but up. Economies that start extremely low on the growth scale usually experience high growth initially. But, over time the pace of the growth decelerates. For instance, the growth rates of developed economies such as the United States and Europe - their long-term annual GDP growth rate is estimated at a mere 2-4 percent compared with India and China’s 6-8 percent.

Of course, it’s not that south India is highly developed and hence has little room for further growth. Sure, given its relative development, the South is likely to grow slower than upcoming north India. But, it does not in any way indicate the end of southern dominance once and for all.