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Will US polls impact SMBs?

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BANGALORE, INDIA: Unarguably, the US election has an impact on the world. As the public debate on who will be the next American President continues to gain momentum, the election's global importance has correspondingly accelerated and the anticipation of the world is higher than ever.

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History indicates that U.S. presidential elections impact the movement and performance of financial markets. From the point of view of an Indian or from a purely Indian-American perspective, here's what's likely under the leadership of either Democratic Barack Obama or Republican Mitt Romney?

The coming US presidential election has generated a higher level of financial uncertainty and is surrounded by an especially contentious set of issues. Industrial sector, financial markets and investors around the world will be focusing their attention on the results of the upcoming presidential election in the United States next month.

With the election around the corner, the industrial sector is keen about the outcome of the polls. But many SMBs are confident and are not much worried about the elections. G. Rajnarayan, M.D, Radel Electronics, says: "In concern with the SMBs in India, we are strong enough to get shaken by the US polls which will take place soon. They really shouldn't get affected by US policies. I don't see why should the SMBs get affected but rather the large companies get affected and in turn, the SMBs may get slightly affected with new policies. But in spite of all these, Indian SMBs stand tall."

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In the short term, the challenge will be maintaining attention and focus on the U.S.-India relationship during the long U.S. campaign season.

"There is 100 pc focus on domestic segment. In anyways, the US polls will not impact the SMB sections. Probably the impact may not be more than 5-10 pc. Even when Obama was selected previously, he was very much reluctant about outsourcing. Initially, it was a bit frightening, but Indian businesses started steadily increasing with Infosys, Wipro etc., Now again if Obama is selected it wouldn't make any such difference, but it could purely gain a political mileage," says Manish Kumar, Karnataka information Technology Venture Capital Fund.

A source said that Monica Jensen, a 55-year-old independent from Mobile, Alabama, voted for Obama in 2008 but will shift her vote to Romney this time, largely because of the economy. She quotes, 'I'm ready for a change, I want to see the economy go in a different direction."

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The person elected will have to play a major role in the international arena and his actions will influence the lives of billions of people, and how well international affairs are managed will determine the effectiveness and success of local issues considering the linkage this has, especially when it comes to the USA. With the reformation of some old policies, the large industrial sector might get impacted, but the small and medium business sectors are like shock absorbers.

But no matter who wins the election, financial markets and investors are likely to have something to say about the result.

As a Chines proverb says, "A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions".