Indias rigid social structure limits intergenerational economic mobility and fosters acceptance of vast wealth disparities.

Conservatives brayed that government should stay out of the private sector; liberals bleated for nationalizing the banks.

Not surprisingly, troubled economic times often beget proselytizers of wacky, extreme ideas.

Picking winners among the many young companies seeking money is a tough business, even for the most sophisticated investors. Indeed, most professionally run venture funds lose money. For individuals, it's pure folly. Buy a lottery ticket instead. Your chance of winning is likely to be higher.

Visits to crowded Indian urban centers unleash sensory assaults: colorful dress and lilting chatter provide a backdrop to every manner of commerce, from small shops to peddlers to beggars.

Finally, let's keep well in mind the most important lesson of the auto rescue: While government should stay away from the private sector as much as possible, markets do occasionally fail, and when they do government can play a constructive role, as it did in the case of the auto rescue.

China has lunged into the 21st century, while India is still lurching toward it.