Once viewed as a basket case, Bangladesh has created a world-class ready-made garments (RMG) industry that now exports more than India. But its miracle story is ending.
For years, Bangladesh’s economy has been held up as a model for India. That view has been tarnished by the popular anger that drove Sheikh Hasina from office. Dictatorial politics increased that anger, but the immediate trigger for her exit was job quotas for grandchildren of 1971 freedom fighters in a country where millions of educated unemployed try desperately to grab a few govt jobs.
Bangladesh’s social indicators beat India’s hollow. It has lower fertility, higher life expectancy, high female workforce participation and, hence, stronger female empowerment. These have underpinned its miraculous economic rise.