India is on the trident of a trilemma (if that is the right metaphorical upgrade from being on the horns of a dilemma). The trilemma is that, as a competitive democracy with a weak state, India's embrace of financial globalization will make it difficult—not necessarily impossible—to maintain macroeconomic stability. Put differently, a country can retain two of these three features—competitive and imperfect democracy, global financial integration, and macroeconomic stability—but not all of them.