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Showing posts from October, 2008

Meltdown Postmortem

Lot of analysis and discussions are going on across the internet and media about the current meltdown, the way out of it. Lots of conspiracy theories have popped up and quite a lot of economists have discussed opposing theories. Check out the two videos below for example: I personally believe there is too much simplification of the issue in most media discussions. What is happening is not a result of simple economic theories, nor the result of pure political manipulation at the international level.  There is too much of a mix of US domestic policies vs. US and Europe's international economic policies and India-China's sudden rise and emergence as global "cheap" goods and services destinations (and resulting loss of low value jobs in the developed economies).  Add the large scale immigration of Africans to Europe, Mexicans to US (Indian immigration to US is mostly skilled jobs and far too less in no to become a factor though), and thus the loss of low value jobs for na

Facing Credit Crisis - Farmer vs. Financial Advisor

The news of an Indian origin financial advisor committing suicide after killing his entire family hit the headlines within hours of the event. I wonder if it had been an Indian farmer instead of a financial advisor, whether the news would have taken the same position on the newspapers. However, the stark similarity in context of the suicide with that of the Indian farmers prodded me to think which one of them was worse - the Financial Advisor's or the Farmer's. The farmer in India lives on the bottom edge of the economic ladder, is uneducated and enjoys little socio-economic security. However, the financial advisor was an affluent citizen (having made a fortune of $1.2mn once), had a social security number and was well educated. His committing suicide indicates a complete failure of the much touted "social security" which the west claims to be its achievement. However, look at it from another perspective. The financial advisor works on estimates and projections of se

Driving Life

I've recently bought a car (more on that in my next post) ... and have been driving around Mumbai - especially along the narrow traffic in front of IIT main gate.  Driving a new car on Mumbai roads is quite traumatic - because you are often driving barely inches away from the rickshaw or goods carrier which might be swaying from left to right (thanks to the potholes and uneven terrain of Mumbai's roads)  - and every moment you run a risk of kissing the bruised exterior of the next vehicle - and as a result getting a nice scratch on yours. Image Credit :  Guy Kawasaki Often when I drive, I also look around for other small cars and their sides. Almost 90% of them have scratches itched on them at some place; about 50% also have a dent or two somewhere. I suppose drivers in Mumbai have to resign themselves to the fact that their car will get scratches and dents sometime or the other - sooner than later. Trying to save yourself of this can only be stressful while you drive. I dare s