We are what we are !!

தீண்டாமை எனும் வியாதி,  திரும்பி வந்தது ‘கோவிட்’டாய்!,  ‘ரெட்டை டம்ளரை’ வீட்டுக்குள்   அழைத்து வந்தது அதிரடியாய்! ,  “தள்ளி நில் தொடாதே”,  ஆச்சார பாட்டியாய்,  என்னிடம் சமூக இடைவெளி கேட்டது !  “கை, கால் அலம்பாமல்  வீட்டுக்குள் வராதே”  விரட்டிய அம்மாவை விஞ்சியது!  ‘சோப்பையும் போட்டு   கழுவிக்கொண்டே இருந்தால் மட்டுமே  தலை தப்பித்தாய்’   தாயாய் தனயனைக் கொஞ்சியது!.  பெரியவரிடம் பேசினால்  வாயைப் பொத்தி பேசணும்- ஒருபடி  மேலே சென்று வாயை மூக்கை  ரெண்டையும் மூடியே  வைத்து பேசணும்- தீயாய் எச்சரித்து சென்றதம்மா!- அது கண்ணுக்கு தெரியாத ‘மஹா மாரி’யம்மா

 The minutes of the recent meeting of Monetary Policy Committee  of RBi which were released this week, contain some interesting mentions. One of the news columns said that RBI minutes mention 'uncertainty' 12 times, 'growth' 43 times and 'inflation' 147 times It has expressed concern over inflation and it seems to be valid as CPI has remained above 6% which is more than the tolerance limit of RBI. Alongside, India is experiencing severe GDP growth pangs as its IIP has remained in the negative territory in the first quarter and in July also. Services sector is in a deeper mess except of course ITES, SAAS etc. which have been affected to a lesser extent. It looks like only Agri sector has not been impacted adversely so far ,as the progress of monsoon has been satisfactory and the spatial dispersion also fairly good. The RBI Deputy Governor Mr.Michael Patra had said : "If inflation persists above the upper tolerance band for one more quarter, monetary policy w...

 Cricket has weathered many a winter and smothered many a vagary as a gentleman's game. Cricket was played during Spanish flu times also and UK's Wisden has not recorded any disruption in the progress of the cricket season in 1918 and 1919. But Cricket was severely restricted during World war 1 when all the major cricket playing nations were involved in the war.Cricket was also played less during World War II since England was involved in the war in full measure. But during all these periods of distress, Cricket was played in India with the least disruptions. In fact, Wisden which has recorded death of English cricketers during World War 1 and 2 in all cricket playing nations , has not even mentioned one indian cricketer dying during Spanish flu days.This has to be seen in the light of total death toll of 17 million who died in india during Spanish flu years. So even in 1918 and during World wars everybody around the world believed that India could somehow manage and survive hu...

  "All animal are equal, but some animals are more equal than others," wrote George Orwell in his allegorical novel Animal Farm. the stody in short conveys the meaning that the absolute power corrupts absolutely. His novel 1984 which is a classic dystopian novel, also wrote about Thought Police to persecute individuality and independent thinking . This novel and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" rank as two of the best dystopian novels of twentieth century. Huxley's novel describes a world where people are born and raised  through engineered artificial wombs and childhood indoctrination into predetermined classes or castes based on intelligence and labour. In all these novels, a world covered by intelligence which gives it an order and discipline predetermined by its rulers, is a dire prediction. Coming to Covid 19 driven world of today, our ways and methods are directed by rulers assisted by doctors, epidemiologists and virologists , and we are not at liber...

Initially, when COVID 19 started spreading in India, PM Modi announced a war on Covid 19 and every single citizen abided by his exhortation. Many newspapers and media personnel screamed Modi is going hammer and tongs at Covid 19 virus in order to scorch it totally. But after a few lockdowns, both PM and the common man understood with humility that Covid demands hammer and dance strategy to deal with it. So we are now reconciled to the fact that we must learn to live with Covid 19 at peace instead of waging a losing war. Adapting to its speed and spread, the common man is now equipped with mask, social distancing etc. to tackle it and dance with it. Govt adopts the hammer and the common man adopts dancing with it. Hopefully, this will become a considered foreign policy also with China, the birthplace of Covid19. Hammer at LAC and then dance with it in commercial and trade space!!Also, dance with China to wean it off Pakistan!!

Policy prescriptions are flying thick and fast and on my part, I am adding one more . All Economists including me are prescribing deficit monetisation, pump priming etc. taking a leaf out of Modern Monetary Theory. As against this,Central Govt. has an alternative which is called Asset monetisation, according to me.Govt calls it Disinvestment/Divestment of PSUs. When the whole world is reeling under Covid pandemic , will there be a suitor for Air India? Even if there is a good buyer will he be willing to pay the right price for Air India.What will be the benchmark for its valuation when the whole industry is bogged down by this pandemic and its repercussions on the travel industry. In such unprecedented situations , it is best advised not to go in for outright sale transactions of Government stake in PSUs including Air India, BPCL,etc. Similarly, other intangible but real assets are Spectrum waves ( link ), Mining/Abiotic  ,Biotic Resources which are hidden inside the Ear...

Kubler-Ross Change Curve This Curve theory explains the process as to how people cope up with significant upheaval or life-changing or threatening situations. link The process explains that people undergo five/six stages: the first stage is that of Shock, then going into Denial, then to Anger, moving into Depression. Up to this stage the performance of the individual or group of people will continue to deteriorate as time progresses. Once the inevitability of the Change dawns, then the people move to Acceptance and finally into Integration when the performance will again start regaining the original position or sometimes exceeding it if there are supporting enablers or incentives. This is true for individuals as well as for a country or economy. Since the nation received the pandemic shock in March middle, you may recount we have seen at least the first four stages. We start denying that this pandemic will affect us and once we realised that it is spreading we showed ...