"Europeans are much
more serious than we are in America because they think that a good place to
discuss intellectual matters is a beer party."
— Richard P. Feynman
(American, 1918-1988)
Word for the day
Oenomel (n)
Something combining strength
with sweetness.
Malice towards none
The speed with which global
auto makers are joining the list of "emission norm cheaters", it would
soon cease to be a headline news - and people will stop bothering about it!
First random thought this morning
After Sugar, Urea, Tea, Coal, bauxite, Pulses, spices, etc. India is
reportedly also becoming a swing player (consumer/producer) in global crude oil
market.
The natural consequence should be development of a strong and
vibrant commodities' market. Unfortunately, even the Indian traders prefer
Dubai, Singapore and London over Indian cities for carrying their commodity
trading activities. The anomaly needs to correct sooner than later.
You give some to get more
Ostensibly, the upper half of the Indian demographic pyramid is
not pleased with the performance of the incumbent NDA government.
This is the section of the society which has benefitted most from
the globalization of the Indian economy in past 25years. Having grown at a
rapid pace in past two decades, this section is also holding very high economic
aspirations. Besides, the people in this socio-economic strata are well exposed
to the living standards in the developed economies, and in majority cases set
up higher benchmark for the quality of life. In their criticism of the
government performance they are highly subjective. Much of their frustration
could be traced to their personal circumstances, benchmarks and aspirations
rather than to the consequences of the underperformance on part of the
government.
In my view, the assessment of the government's performance my this
upper half suffers from a major lacuna. It completely disregards the fact that
in pursuance of 25years of economic, social, political and administrative
reforms Indian economy has reached a stage where it has to accelerate and take
a big leap, just like an airplane immediately before the take off. A failure
here would set us back by 25years.
The government is like pilot of the airplane - it cannot avoid the
acceleration, noise, vibration. The best it could do is to make the take off a
little less bumpy. The worst it could do it is to abort the flight altogether
and return to parking bay. I find the flight presently bumpy but on course.
The upper half of the Indian demographic pyramid needs to accept
that, irrespective of the party running the government, it's time for:
·
Better compliance standards
·
Higher tax equity
·
End of feudal lordship over labor
·
Rise in global competition and lower state
protection
·
End of crony capitalism and crony socialism
·
End to free resources and capital
These are pre-requisites for attaining higher living standards and
meeting their high aspirations.
The bottom half of the Indian society has not moved much in past 25yr,
so they do not have much to lose if the flight is aborted.
It is the top half of the pyramid which needs rule of law; less
crime; trained and skilled labor; risk capital; best technology; global
markets; larger markets for their products, services and ideas; better
education and job/business opportunities for their children; and much more.
Trust me, none of these is possible if the changes that are taking
place are not allowed to happen.
(Note: A small but highly visible and audible section of
this section of the society is left leaning and would not concur with the BJP
led government for a variety of reasons - not necessarily economic. Though
dominating the media (including social media) space, they are in abysmal
minority and do not represent the popular opinion.)
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