China and India represent two of the most important forces reshaping the global economy, but they have arrived at this moment having followed very different paths. China surged ahead through manufacturing, exports, and an activist, but authoritarian state. India, by contrast, followed a more uneven path, shaped by democracy, a robust services sector, and a different relationship between government and markets.
A new book, Eclipsing the West: China, India and the Forging of a New World, by the British economist Sir Vincent Cable examines the bigger question of what the rise of China and India means for the future of the world economy—and the international order.
Vince Cable is a British economist, author, and former politician who has spent decades thinking about the changing global economy. He served as Britain’s secretary of state for business, innovation and skills from 2010 to 2015 and later as leader of the Liberal Democrats. Before entering politics, he worked in government, international organizations, academia, and the private sector—including as chief economist at Shell. Today, he is a Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics in the School of Public Policy.
To talk more about his new book, Vince joins Milan on the show this week. The two discuss Vince’s first visit to India as a student in the mid-1960s, the contrasting reception to his writings on China and India, and the concept of “superstates.” Plus, the two discuss the ability of India to shape global order, Indian democracy’s “fork in the road,” and three possible futures for an emerging world of superstates.
Episode notes:
1. Martin Wolf, “Best books of 2025: Economics,” Financial Times, November 19, 2025.
2. “A Sixth of Humanity and the Dreams of a Nation (with Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian),” Grand Tamasha, October 22, 2025.
3. Devesh Kapur, “Why Does the Indian State Both Fail and Succeed?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 34, no. 1 (Winter 2020): 31-54.
