In India, a demographic golden age dawns

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1:01And then the economic news of the future are series the Age of Work from American Public Media. This is Marketplace. In Los Angeles, I'm Kyle Riznal. It is Monday today, the 12th of October good, as it always is. Have you long everybody? Not a whole lot of data today, it being a federal holiday and all, but we are in for a big week during which inflation will be front and center. The Labor Department will share with us an update on the Consumer Price Index Wednesday morning, the producer price index on Thursday and the import price index come Friday. So Marketplace is just in a house going to get us going with what we in the news business call a look ahead. Whatever inflation reports come out, the numbers that get the most attention are the headline figures, which include food and energy prices. But let's set those aside because when it comes to energy prices right now, we don't know a lot.

2:06Nicole Servey is in the comments with Wells Fargo. We don't know how any of the president's deals with Russia or whoever are going to affect oil markets. We don't know when or if the war is going to end. Servey says energy prices are just too volatile. And similarly food is in the same category where you could have a bad harvest in a far flowing area that swings the entire food category. If you strip out food and energy prices, you get what's known as core inflation and it's running kind of hot too. Ryan Sweet, Chief Global Economist with Oxford Economics says that's partly because of AI demand. Drop me up the prices for computing memory chips. Another factor is tariffs. Jennifer Lee with BMO capital market says they are also pushing up the price of electronics and other imported goods. Clothing is another example because you know that's still being imported. But the thing is you can't really strip energy prices out of your inflation calculation. Nicole Servey at Wells Fargo says a peril prices are going up because of higher transportation costs, which are being pushed up by higher fuel prices.

3:07Same story with air fares. There are more than 20% relative to a year ago and that is because a lot of their cost comes from jet fuel. Servey says it can take a year for the rising cost of energy to eventually show up and consumer prices. I'm Justin Howe from Marketplace. I'm sure you've heard the no bell news of the day the prize went to Americans for coming up with to quote the committee. An understanding of how the total mass of individual households and businesses affect the economy through their actions. I mean, I'm just saying, but that's what we do on this program every single day. Wall Street to start the week stocks did trade bonds did not kind of a wash all in all. We will have the details when we do the numbers.

4:07Sometimes we record interviews that just don't make it to air. Today though, we're going to make an exception. The audio you're going to hear in the next minute or two is from May of last year. When ADP Chief Economist Nila Richardson and I met a 34 year old guy in Salt Lake City, Utah for our series The Age of Work. It's about how changing demographics or changing the global economy. Wealthy countries like the United States and Europe are getting older developing economies like Vietnam and for us today, India are younger and getting more productive. Here's that audio. My name is Akhil Tapia. I am a software slash video game developer.

5:10I've been in Utah for 11 years to August and I'm soon going to be moving back to India. Akhil got his masters in the United States. Worked a series of jobs in video games and technology until he was laid off. He did look for something new could not find anything before his visa ran out. We didn't air that interview because just as we got home and started working on the stories from that trip, remember this was May of last year. American immigration policy turned upside down. One thing he said though did stay with us. Have you ever lived in India as an adult? No. Yeah, I often think about that and I think it would be interesting to kind of get the experiences that I've had here and then apply them to about as diametrically opposite of a culture as I can find. Utah is kind of quiet and I come from Mumbai which is one of the densest, busiest cities in the world.

6:15Fact Jack. True. We should just stop and get some of this street ambie baby. The thing you never hear is the sound of a collision which just amazes me. Dila and I were in Mumbai last month and we both knew that one of the first things we had to do was get back in touch with Akhil. His neighborhood looks a lot like you'd find in New York maybe. Lots of traffic, tall buildings, apartments above ground floor retail. And fittingly for Akhil remember he's a software and video games guy. His street is Mumbai's wholesale and retail hub for electronics. Side by side stores full to the brim with computer gear and laptops and cords repair people to of course. The entrance to Akhil's place is next to a store that's all audio equipment. Speakers and sound boards and microphones and then off to the side a tiny staircase. These are steep steps. These are no joke stickers.

7:15Can't imagine bringing groceries up. Besides being steep these steps up to the fourth floor were also super narrow. And before I could even knock Akhil's dad opened the front door. Oh, hello. Good to see you again. How are you? Sorry to intrude. Please. Please come in. Hi. Great to see you again. Can you take our shoes off? Uh, shoe's up? Yes. Those parents kept to the next room trying to stay out of the way. Uh, yes, those are my friends. They can come in and watch if they want. It's just us talking. Yeah, they're very excited to be here. Well done. Work, work, work, sit here too. Mom and dad have moved to a new place so Akhil is actually living here in the family's old apartment. Don't want to grow up in. You're used to holding the mic as well, sir. Yeah. This is, believe it or not, only my second time. There you go. That's all, that's all the matters. That's all matters. Um, it's been a year. Yes, it has been quite an eventful year.

8:19Uh, in some ways and then somewhat uneventful in other ways. The change was very big. Uh, and I don't think I'm fully used to it yet. So obviously like having a family and all of that is a big help. But yeah, the city is not quite my speed. It's a bit too fast for me now. I mean, I get it. Mumbai is kind of overwhelming and in your face. You can find every slice of the Indian economy in this one city. It's the financial capital as well. And one reason it does move so fast is because there are so many young people here. The median age in Mumbai and in India as a whole is around 29, 10 years younger than the United States. And global companies are taking notice. They are investing in India, growing their presence and opening offices here. For your friends who didn't work in the US, what is a perception of the US and working in the US that is different than your actual experience?

9:29It is largely driven by Instagram and like shorts and like social media. Oh, good. Yeah, that pretty much captures the US right? I think it is a bit more on the negative side now just because news of layoffs and immigration problems is largely how people in India relate through people like me who might have moved back. It's not a favorable thing. I think people are not excited to move abroad as much because the prospect of coming back is just as high. Granted that you seem to have landed on your feet. Your life has been turned upside down. And you seem remarkably positive. Yeah, I mean, what else? What other option do I have? A keel isn't the only young person in India asking themselves that question.

10:33India is the biggest source of international students for American colleges. But now, because of stricter visa rules and all the rest, fewer of them are even applying to study in the United States. The policy changes and the uncertainty also mean that Indians like a keel who often have worked in technology or business or medicine in the United States are returning to India. More skilled young people entering an already young and crowded workforce. A couple of miles from the keel's apartment and the electronics retail hub he lives right in the middle of is one of the biggest markets I have ever seen. It's a place where the shops on a keel's block might very well buy their inventory. I mean, I can't overstate the vastness of what's working for ten minutes. And it's just more market isn't even really the right word for where we are. It's like a whole shopping district, the designated block from almost any product you can imagine.

11:36There are hundreds of tiny storefronts selling just pots and pans in one area. Then a few blocks of just light fixtures and then just textiles. And office and storage space built a few floors up above all that retail. Can I come here as a regular Indian person in shopper? Is it wholesale retail? What is this? This is mainly for host sale. So people come from across different... Look at this guy once, Parker Scooter. Yeah, people come across from different part of India. If they want to buy, they say notebooks, they buy thousand notebooks and then they go back to their own city and sell that. And they come here for that? Yeah, because it's cheaper. That's Unkit Sinha, he is our fixer and our occasional translator. We of course paid him for the services which included some help steering us to one particular section of this market. This Javiri Vazar is especially for lots of shops and vendors for who sells jewelries. And all sorts of jewelries, gold, silver, artificial jewelries. After the break then, some of the vendors in Zaviri Vazar running generational businesses, some of which, and I am not kidding here, go back to the 1700s.

12:45First though, let's do the numbers. Down does rose up 195 today about 410th percent, 51,850. Then has that down 120 points, that is 410th percent, 27,245. The S&P 500 down 4 points less than a 10th percent, 7807. Some Indian companies who stock is listed in the United States, how about that? One of the biggies is tech and consulting company Infosys, which has the headquarters address of 44 Infosys Avenue. In Bengaluru, that's in southern India, shares on the New York Stock Exchange rose 9-10th percent on the day. The pharmaceutical concern Dr. Reddy's laboratory, global HQ, is in Hyderabad, about a 12 hour drive east out of Mumbai.

13:45Dr. Reddy's makes a lot of generic and over the counter-meds shares gain nearly 3 percent on Wall Street. The FAA has warned all US airlines about safety risks after attacks on the King College International Airport in Riyadh. Delta Airlines was plenty of launch its first non-stop flight between Atlanta and Riyadh later this month. It has been, of course, delayed Delta down 2.5 percent on the day United lost 2.8 percent. Bond Market, as I said, was closed your listening to Marketplace. You didn't start your business dreaming about payroll tax deadlines. Yet there they are, every quarter sitting on your desk. Gusto handles that part quietly in the background so you can stop dreading the calendar. Gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all in one, remote friendly and incredibly easy to use so you can pay, hire onboard and support your team from anywhere. With automatic payroll tax filing, simple direct deposits, health benefits, commuter benefits, workers comp 401KU name it,

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15:48Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start, thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With thumbtack you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download today. This is Marketplace. I'm Kai Rizdal. Nila and I are walking through Zavari Bizar in Mumbai with our Fixer Unket. Alright, I would like to point out first of all, it is approximately the temperature of the sun. That seems to be a relevant point. We were all sweating after the 10-ish minute walk we had to take because the streets were just too crowded to get anywhere at all in a car. I would say by the way, it's more dangerous to cross the street here than it was in Vietnam. Here it's just pandemonium. I was out the guy yesterday and he said we only have one rule and that's that there are no rules. Yeah, you have to be more instinctive. Oh good, and I'm the guy who's been here for 48 hours. That's great.

16:51And you need to be aware of all the surroundings, like four sides of you. There are scooters waving through the streets adding to the constant sound of honking, whether you are inside or out, you cannot escape all the honking in Mumbai. Over here, look out for the truck. Thank you. As I recall, last time we were together overseas, you were pulling me out of the lane of traffic. So, you know, turn about as fair play. When get turned deserves another, right? We have to watch out in these new locations. Oh my lordy bee. We're in Mumbai after having been in Tennessee and Utah and the UK and Vietnam. And here we are, stop number five on our tour around the world for the age of work. Why are we here? We're chasing youth. We've been chasing it for the story and in life. That's right. We've been chasing it for two years now. And it's led us to this final stop in Mumbai where the workforce is young and the scale is big.

17:56The scale is amazing and we're going to get to that. Compare this place to Vietnam for me, would you? Yeah, so I would call India a Vietnam's little sister. It's about six years behind demographically. But there's a lot of things infrastructure wise that Vietnam had that India does not. But there's a lot of things that Vietnam was striving for that India has had for a very long time. Okay, challenges to the United economy. Go. Infrastructure. Yeah. Equality. Yeah. Any quality. Yeah. When it comes to a workforce, when you have the top 25%, and I'm not saying that ratio is exact, so please don't take me that early. Noted. But the top of the workforce, highly skilled, highly educated, and growing in wealth. Right. And in the beginning of the industry, when it's going to be done, although it's going to take you to the country, among the ones that you are interested in, at that point,

19:00you'll have the power of getting those teachers a little too high. The, the family district, you know, struggle. The families, with the attitude of being slow. And the business, isn't the number one difference. We do. The empowering authorities are the military. We finally did find the jewelry shop we were looking for. Official opening time was 11 a.m. at 11.15 still shut tight. So we killed some time. Hey, Acket, can you ask this guy what he's doing? And if we can talk to him for a minute? Out on the sidewalk where we'd been waiting, there was a guy in what I can only describe as a tiny metal kiosk. Maybe more like a cart. The whole thing went up to about my shoulder. He was sitting crisscross on a raised platform under a metal roof that keeps him dry when he works through monsoon season, which yes, he does work through. You can come sit. I can come sit. I will come and sit. What is your name, sir? Can I have a look?

20:00You just speak a little bit of English. You had a red velvet tray in his lap where he was beating pearls and other stones into a necklace. How long have you been doing this? You may stand up, but almost 35 years now. How old are you? 35 years. 35 years. Yeah, that's what I thought. This is the question I ask American businesses all the time. I say, how's business? Are you buying and selling a lot of things? I buy things. I buy things. I buy things. So people come and give him these materials that you see pearls and his job is to make necklace out of it. Oh, so you're a man. He's a manufacturer. You're a manufacturer. I'm not a retailer. Yeah. So they bring you the materials. You then sell it back to them. What is your profit? But what I'm thinking is that it depends on the kind of design someone requests him. So it depends. It can range around 300 rupees to 500 rupees, which is roughly $3 to $5, right?

21:01Yeah, $3 to $5. For peace? For peace. That's not bad. It takes about $1. $1 to $2 for him to make one piece. And how many hours a week, daily, or? I do it for how long? 12 hours a day. Seven days a week or do you take a day off? 300. Seven days. You speak a level language. You know your numbers. So 12 hours a day takes you about two hours to make a piece. It makes six a day. That's 300 to 500 times six is like $18 to $30 a day. Give it a day. It depends if he has more orders he can earn even more than that. But depends on how many orders he receives. This guy is sitting next to you. Is he your competition? He's brother. So it's a family business? The entire line that you see are mostly his relatives. That's so funny. I didn't even see it. There's a whole line of shops just like this. Little carts just like that.

22:02That'd be Sebel. It's not a pay. There's a lot of things. There's about 37 stores like this. Did you learn from your parents? His father used to work here. And how long has your family been doing this? You didn't have to be a family. My father used to work here. About same 35-40 years. Wow. Amazing. As the brothers went back to work, we made our way into the now open jewelry store. The air conditioned now open jewelry store. It's a tiny narrow storefront with mirrors for walls, mannequins, and super intricate gold jewelry displayed basically everywhere. People shop here for weddings or gifts for a birthday or when a baby's born. Hello, good to see you. Hello, good to see you. I'm really sorry. Oh, that's quite a relief. My apologies. I'm really good to meet you. Hi, I'm Sebel.

23:03That's Anil Jain. He's the owner of our Procrage Jewelers. This, we've been with you in two minutes. Sorry. Of course. I'm just fascinated to watch what you're doing. I'm praying to the God, you know? Makes sense. Running a business. We all Hindus do this. Of course. We first thank God and then we start our business. He took out two little golden dishes. He put some cotton and some ghee, which is clarified butter inside. He lit some incense and then he prayed for four minutes. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm through. I'm really sorry. Do not apologize. No, no, no. Now, here comes the business question. All right. Business owners, you say, always pray to the gods before they start for the day. Yes, yes. How's your prayer going? How is business? Business is not bad. Since our prime minister has given us a call that for a year, all the Indians are not supposed to buy gold. That's what he sequested. And people are really following it out. So we have taken a hit of around 50 to 60 percent of businesses.

24:06That's a lot. Yes. But still we are not complaining because country first, you know? Say more about that country first. Because the currency is getting devalued and because of that effect, all the things are getting expensive. The reason is probably no surprise, the Iran War and then the energy shock. India is the world's third-largest importer of crude oil. How long have you been here? I'm here from Salad's 35 years. Is it a family business or did you buy this legacy? And he's my son. I was just going to say, where's the next generation? Here he is. All right. You will keep up the legacy. Well, now you have to come here so we can talk to you. Come here. He's a little shy. Well, break about of that. Don't worry about that. Tell us who you are. I'm the Shang-jian. I will get out of Buchanaj. Do you want to ask? Yes. How old are you? I'm 24, I'm 94. What would you be doing if you weren't here with your dad? I actually was doing something.

25:08I'm doing my father gave me a reality check and asked me to come here. Tell me about your friends. The other 24-year-olds in this economy. What is their economic mood? Right now everybody, all we talk about is, you know, how to save money when you go out. All right. What are they doing? What are their jobs? Are they in gold? No, no. I have one of the vendors in gold from the same group, but others are trader, one's web designer, another one's an investment risk analyzer. What were you doing before you came to work for your dad here? I started a custom t-shirt printing company with my friend and we did that for a couple of years. Until, a Neil gave him that reality check and now Dishonks got some ideas for how to grow the family jewelry store. If you think about your aspirations for your son in this business, what would you like to see him do after you've retired and you're enjoying life? Where would you like him to take this business forward? Expand.

26:09Expand whatever capability he has. He has to work at the most capacity and expand to his best ability. And in India, we don't retire. We only die. Yeah. We are constantly on the move. Our journey through this economy that is constantly on the move continues tomorrow. We're going to visit a company who's working without question, no, even if you don't know it. The Spinal Note on the way out. One more thing from a killtop. Neil and I were talking to him earlier in the program in his family's apartment. He is a video game, guys. We said, turns out he is working on a new game. He and his colleagues are looking for funding in the hopes that it will turn into a steady gig. So what's the new game?

27:10Why can't go into a lot of detail about it, but it is. The general idea is we want to bring back the nostalgia of the 80s. And by what that, what I mean is sort of the. Frogger. Yeah. No, no, no. Did you live there in high-fair? What's nostalgia for the 80s? Well, you can tell me. I was there. So you can tell me. This is like, yes. And I think you're the target audience for this game as well. Good. As likely the first generation that grew up playing video games. As Nila said, we were in Mumbai chasing youth and got hit with nostalgia for the 1980s. I'm here in the ballway in Caitlin Ash John Gordon and Noya Karstey Mullis and Stephanie Seek are the marketplace editing staff. Kelly Souvera is the news director and I'm Kai Rizdole Wee-Wills. See you tomorrow, everybody. This is APM.

28:13Is it just me or is every celebrity trying to sell us a whole lifestyle these days? Even if you are kind of annoyed that Drew Barrymore is trying to hawk air friars, you're gonna forget that she did it in two weeks anyway. I'm Alice Wilder. And this week on This Is Uncomfortable, we're talking about how this barrage of celebrity products is changing our relationships with our favorite stars. It's bottom up. They see the influencers doing it and they're like, oh, we got to get a piece of that. I'm joined by Bobby Finger and Lindsay Weber from the Hit Pop Culture Podcast who weekly. You don't want to miss this one. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.