November 9, 2007 (LPAC)--Because India has adopted an export-based growth model since Y-2K, thus jeopardizing the future of millions of poor people in order to earn foreign exchange and GDP growth, the collapse of the US dollar has set loose a cat among the pigeons in India's new-growth sectors. According to Washington Post reporter Rama Lakshmi, 4 million poor Indians, who were living from hand to mouth by working in the cut-throat garment industry, have already lost their livelihood to the collapse of the dollar. His report indicates that another 4 million garment workers are on the chopping block.

In recent months, the Indian currency, the Rupee, gained significantly against the hapless dollar. On Jan. 1, the dollar was worth 46 Indian rupees, and now it is 39.

The collapse of the dollar has hit the poor in India two ways. First, the reduction of purchasing power of Americans, who were the sales target of Indian employers, has reduced demand for exports. Second, the higher valued rupee has made the "Made in India" garments more expensive than the garments of poorer nations-- such as Vietnam, for instance-- whose currency is linked fully to the dollar.

The 4 million newly unemployed in the garment industry, caused by the weakening dollar, represent at least twice as many workers as those employed by India's much-vaunted Information Technology sector.