Leaders | Towering ambition

Can India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia be the next great economies?

Several countries are making bold—and risky—bets on growth

Three hands holding each a plant pot. Each pot has a seedling growing an upwards trend arrow.
Illustration: Vincent Kilbride

Politicians and policymakers all over the world share a preoccupation: how to make their countries richer. The trouble is that the route to prosperity looks ever more daunting. The global economy is changing, as new, green technologies emerge and trading relationships fragment. In countries that are already rich the state, after decades of free-market rhetoric, is back in a big way. Governments are spending hundreds of billions on handouts for industries they deem to be strategically important.

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Vaulting ambition”

From the January 6th 2024 edition

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This illustration shows an open book with a yellow background. The left page has a green leaf, a bold "n," text, and a declining graph. Small figures on the right turn a blank page, one holding a large yellow pen.

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