"It may be true that
you can't fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to
rule a large country."
—Will Durant (American,
1885-1981)
Word for the day
Polemic (n)
A controversial argument, as
one against some opinion, doctrine, etc
Malice towards none
Could you also hear a clear,
shrill and unpleasant sound of sexism and machoism, in all this extraordinary
praise for women cricket team?
Somehow I did!
First random thought this morning
His Excellency Pranab Mukherjee
has completed one of the most non-controversial stints at Raisina Hills. I have
not heard anyone complaining about his conduct as President of the Republic of
India. To the contrary, most people are appreciative of the fact that he
restored the dignity of the post, that was arguably damaged by his predecessor
to some extent.
Now, if I juxtapose this status
with all controversies, conspiracies and allegation that have surrounded His
Excellency in past four decades, I get a conviction - "everyone deserves a
second chance".
In search of ideas
Artificial intelligence (AI), automation, robotics,
digitalization, et. al. are amongst the most popular buzzwords these days. In
fact this jargon started gaining currency immediately after the global
financial crisis started in 2008.
To me, the primary idea behind all this is threefold—
(a) To manage the
worsening demography in developed economies, by delegating the mundane
functions of life to machines.
I see this as an extension of the trend seen post two great wars. In
those two wars millions of young men died, and it was felt necessary that women
of the house should join the work force to rebuild the shattered economies.
Washing machines, dish washers, microwave ovens, contraceptive pills (to avoid
frequent pregnancies) ready to eat packaged food, equal rights to women,
diversity, inclusiveness, etc. were amongst the scores of ideas that were
conceived, innovated and implemented to successfully increase the size of the
work force.
Today, many European countries, Japan and even USA to some extent,
are struggling with rising population of old and infirm. China shall also join
them in a decade. This trend (i) is constricting consumption, savings & investment; and (ii) creating need for human substitutes to perform the commercial
and personal functions, like nursing and driving etc.
(b) To enhance
productivity. While we have achieved superior speed and efficiency, in the post war period the basic innovations have taken a back seat. Improvement is
the key word rather than innovation. So much so that we have no hesitation in
calling an appliance which is primarily a combination of a communication
device, a camera, a music player and a personal diary, the most brilliant
innovation of the millennium so far.
Enhancing the speed and accuracy of the work done is the focus so as to
make the processes more productive, essentially meaning deriving more output
per unit of capital and labor input.
(c) Cost efficiency. The elementary reason for the latest global financial crisis, in my view, was that
a whole lot of people and governments had got used to spending more than what
they were earning. Piles of debt with low capacity to service it resulted in a
breakdown of the system.
In the interim, central bankers have taken care of the situation
by printing more money and making it available at lower or negative interest
rate. But a sustainable solution can be achieved only in two ways - (i) earn
more; or (b) spend less.
Earning more may not be an option for many due to adverse
demography, poor investment (hence job) climate and low inflation. Spending
less is therefore naturally the preferred choice. Cost reduction (cheaper food,
medicine, housing, travel, wages) is therefore more acceptable. Hence these
buzzwords....to continue tomorrow
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