The Future Brief: The Dharmic Economy - Duty Over Profit Is India’s Next Global Export
How India’s ancient values will shape the future of business.
Most of the focus on the new new world order is on China, the EU, and BRICS. But there is another soon-to-be great power, India.
India, now the most populous country in the world, is beginning to coalesce into a more unified nation. When India gets its act together, it will be a formidable force in the world. And just as the EU is exporting universalism in regulation, China is exporting Confucianism, India will export its cultural perspective, Hindu Dharma.
Hindu Dharma frames business as a duty to workers, communities, and future generations. As India scales, that mindset will travel through payments, platforms, conglomerates, and development deals.
Read the full explainer in the next Core Brief — How Hindu Dharma Will Shape Global Economics.
The Dharmic Shift — What’s Happening
In Hindu thought, dharma means duty, the obligations that keep a system balanced and thriving. These aren’t vague ideals. They’re concrete expectations that change depending on your role.
Some duties are universal: don’t harm, don’t cheat, tell the truth. Others are role-based: owners, managers, workers, and officials each have specific responsibilities. A CEO’s duty isn’t the same as a shopkeeper’s, but both are accountable to the whole.
This mindset shapes business in India. Profit alone isn’t enough. Companies are expected to serve the public good through reliable products, fair dealing, on-time payments, worker training, and support for schools, clinics, and temples.
Duty isn’t charity. It’s the price of legitimacy.
Firms that meet these obligations gain trust, access, and growth.
Those that don’t are shut out.
How It Differs
EU universalism: one baseline for everyone, enforced by law. It’s rules-first and the same rule everywhere.
Chinese Confucianism: order through hierarchy and state coordination. It’s authority-first and fast to act.
Indian Dharma: duty and profit. Each person has clear responsibilities based on their role, owners, managers, workers, suppliers, even government officials.
What matters is keeping the system in balance over time, not just following rules today or hitting short-term goals.
Where This Is Going — And Why It Matters
2025–2027
India starts incorporating Dharma into everyday business.
Contracts require on-time payments, worker training, and community funding for schools, clinics, and temple upkeep.
Fast, low-cost digital payments spread across India and its diaspora, pushing out middlemen and junk fees.
Foreign companies that want access must meet India’s repair and service standards, setting up local support to stay competitive.
2028–2032
Global buyers shift from “cheapest bid” to “who keeps things running.”
Executives are judged not just on profit, but on safety, skills training, and visible public benefits.
Other nations copy India’s model of low-cost payments and digital ID, spreading Dharmic expectations far beyond India’s borders.
2033–2036
Social duty becomes a global business standard.
Firms that meet obligations get faster permits and cheaper loans.
Scorecards show skills taught, repair times, and community projects funded — public proof of service, not just promises.
Governments and communities choose partners who build lasting systems, not just quick profits.
Over time, Dharmic business standards will be felt at the checkout counter and in their neighborhoods. Products built to India’s repair-and-service expectations will last longer and come with clear pricing and support. But US companies that refuse these obligations may lose access to India’s market, driving up costs at home. Over time, Americans will face a choice: demand higher standards from their own companies, or be left behind as global trade moves to a duty-driven system.
India’s approach could rewrite the terms of global trade, forcing companies and countries to prove they serve society, not just themselves.
The Cultural Perspective
India’s rise is powered by a worldview that blends hierarchy with collective responsibility.
Hofstede: India leans collectivist, with higher power distance and long-term orientation. Roles are clearly defined, and decisions are made with future generations in mind.
Trompenaars: Strong particularism — rules bend to context — and communitarianism, where group benefit outweighs individual gain. Time is synchronous, meaning multiple timelines and obligations are balanced at once.
Hall: A high-context culture, where relationships and unspoken understanding matter as much as formal contracts.
Schwartz: Values embeddedness (community and tradition) alongside harmony, balanced with a drive for enterprise and growth.
Hornby: India blends the Connector (East), which builds relationships and networks, with the Bridge Builder (Middle), aligning business, state, and society. The Craftsman (South) drives durable systems and long-term thinking, while the Dedicated Rule Imposer (Blue) ensures obligations are codified into policies and standards.
Compared to the EU’s universalist rules and China’s Confucian-centered order, India’s Dharma emphasizes mutual duty: each person and institution plays their role to keep the whole system in balance. This cultural logic will challenge the profit-only mindset of US capitalism and force global players to adapt, or lose relevance.
Read the full explainer next: Core Brief — How Hindu Dharma Will Shape Global Economics.
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