Optimism in short supply

There was a time when well-meaning observers of a struggling Indian economy used to say that they were short-term pessimists about the country, but long-term optimists. Now there may be an unexpected inversion of that view. Many people have become short-term optimists but long-term pessimists. You could argue that if we take care of a series of short terms, the long term will take care of itself. But consider the argument. The Indian economy is manifestly an out-performer just now. It is the fastest-growing large economy (as it was briefly once earlier) at a difficult time when the Japanese and…