The centre does not exist if the states are not consulted and collaborated with economic and political issues.

Ever since the Narendra Modi Government came to power  by giving false promises, lies and stoking the fire of the communal hatred, the country has been in a state of flames.Never in the history of the country the protest movements have assumed this much force under the regime of Modi than ever before.Vitually all the segments of the economy with the exception of a few corporate friends,have been hit stright and the sadistic vengeance shown against the people and the punitive action against those who speak for the affected people are unprecedented in the annals of the history.

The wholesale selling of government assets, vindictive and divisive citizenship amendment act, moral policing by the goondas and the massive ill-treatment of women via sexual harassment and violence unleashed in the name of love jihad and discriminatory treatment to states opposing the the misguided anti people policies of the authoritarian centre and so on clearly expose the insensitivity and irresponsibility of the RSS led Hinduthuva politics and policies.

The farmers from all over the country have been protesting against the recent farm laws which are inimical to both the producers and consumers.In essence the governance of Modi Government is fundamentally flawed right from tzhe launch of I'll conceived demonetization and hastly implemented GST with savage tariff.

We are now at a cross road where the economy is bleeding and the people are suffering and the corana triggered chaos compounding the crisis....

More than a month long  farmer's protest has exposed and showcased world wide how the ruler of  the country is arrogant, adamant, ignorant and shamelessly supporting the corporate interests to the neglect of the people and government undertakings...

Kerala government has passed legislation underlying the major flaws in the farm bill and called for the repeal of the laws at the earliest....

We have more to say on this in the next part and blast the corporate friendly Government and raise some fundamental issues.

Have you heard about the short film , 638  ways to kill Castro ?

Fiedal Castro is a legend in the literature on Revolutionary struggle. The standard criticism against him was that he was bulldozing democracy ,but  I must hasten to add  and answer his critics  that his government was people centric and hence people friendly; under his regime all the basic facilities inclusive of education and health care for the poor were  in  adequate measure ; he established more medical colleges  so much so that the  per capita availability of doctors  was  the lowest one and that Cuba was always ready to export doctors in case of  health emergency anywhere in the world ; and to his credit  no street was named after him nor was there any of his statue erected anywhere in Cuba.

 

The escalating open war between him and the US was well known. Russia  stood  by him and was ready to extend all possible help. Scared by the Russian shadow in her soil, the U S cancelled  the import of 70 lakh tones of sugar from Cuba and Castro retaliated by nationalizing the US assets worth $850 million.

 

The U S realized at one stage that killing of the Cuba’s economy and breaking the will of the nation was next to impossibility and that  what was imperative for the U S was to eliminate the leader  castro himself. All plausible / possible routes were explored to kill him and based on that material  a short film was taken later.

Having realized that he was a lover of Havana suruttu(cigarattte),a bomb was concealed into it. It did not click. At one stage more than thousand people were armed to kill him, but he escaped. Poison was mixed in his food and medicine, not to speak of spraying dangerous virus into his scuba diving suit.

Once his former lover, Marito Lorence  met him and told:”We will celebrate our union by tasting the ice cream.”He smelled the rat .

“Why do you take so much pain, my dear..you can very well shoot me straight and finish me, “said Castro handing over the gun to her ,with all smile.

The lady was  shell shocked and she fell at his feet and surrendered.

When his health deteriorated, the news leaked out that he would take complete rest..That was also ridiculed by the US president George Bush. He thanked the good God by saying that He will remove him from the world soon.

Castro had abundant sense of humor and retorted thus: I think Bush has forgotten that the very same God has saved me 638 times from his enemy…

Protest movement and people’s struggles everywhere are undermined and the voice of dissent is treated as anti national activity..The rulers intoxicated with the arrogance of power like drunken monkeys resort to all sorts of oppression to terrorize and intimidate the poor denying their rights and entitlement..

They should not be disheartened. He began with 82 soldiers to start with and told later that it was just sufficient to have 10 or 15 people to win the struggle. Eventually the incredible belief in oneself combined with good attitudes and actions would determine the outcome and victory…

 

 

  

We have a responsibility to influence and interest for a regime change

The essence of life is not to go into the meaning of the meaning of life but to make it more meaningful by living  each moment with more gratitude  and love in our heart and render common good to the society regardless of our state of affluence or conditions of poverty.

We are all here to love and respect the fellow human and also help establish the unity in th diversity of nature.This also means getting connected with others and showing concerns to alleviate the suffering of the humanity , especially those who have been

  trapped into poverty,and underemployment looking beyond our narrow selves.

we do have a moral responsibility to influence, interest and also entertain others and facilitate shared growth.That is we must become the catalysts of change.

It is not by accident we meet people and they are meant to cross our path to enrich the experiences of our life on earth and also teach the valuable lessons of life.

There is nothing like right or wrong, or good or bad in today's materialistic corrupt society as foul is fair and the fair is foul and hence it is futile and foolish to expect good conduct and strength of character from politicians or bankers or academicians and bureaucrats.The bad has driven the good out of circulation...

We will not remain complacent and be a mute spectators to the drama of cruelty and criminality of the blood suckers and parasites...we must become the agents of change.

History is replete with examples,where single individuals have wrought revolution in ideas.with patience,courage, covictions, confidence and extreme tolerence they have waged war against the autocratic and authoritian regimes.The impossible will become possible.

The tragedy of our times is that the good and honest , the brave and the intelligent are butchered and massacred and intimidated by the men of criminality and venality- the mad men in authority.

Being a witness to this brutality unleashed against the honest and sincere and good ,many are paralysed with fear to join the bandwagon for unseating the government which becomes anti people and corporate friendly..

We live in an imperfectly integrated global economy where the social media may not be able to unite all the people but the saddening fact is ,it is the only channel  to know what is going on around us, as the mainstream media and newspapers,owned by the corporates no longer echo the heartbeat of the commoners and the needs of the public.

We shall learn from our mistakes and failures and we continue to influence and interest others by whatever way we can.If our life is full and fully lived every moment ,constantly thinking about the society and its empowerment God will conspire and help us to come out of the mess.

Life is a journey and we shall travel like tourists with less luggage

We are more like tourists on this beautiful planet.Journeying is more important than getting worried about reaching a particular destination.Indeed there is no specific destination as such excepting the experience that the soul has acquired and bottled up for whatever incarnation we have been destined to be  .what is significant in life is just to travel and enjoy nature with smile on the face always..It would be better if there is less luggage of stress, hatred or jealousy .If the luggage bundle consists of more love and gratitude bottled up in the heart, the journey would be enjoyable.

In life's journey we have adventure and fun and also encounter many difficulties.sometimes we sulk and suffer and at other times we get elevated in spirits for no specific reason.Sometime devilish and degrading desires plunge us into filth and dirt and unless there's a divine intervention we can't escape from that evil.

In this life we have been assigned roles to play.The bitter truth is for the majority of the population in the world, life is nasty, ugly, brutish, terrifying and hugely intimidating.At that time everyone , the mostly affected and afflicted one raises the question:why me ?

Kindly rmember we are never alone while experiencing sorrows and suffering.Everyone has his or quoto of pain and also the fortunes and joy.The underlying crude reality of the drama of life is merely dictated and defined by the pleasure - pain calculus...more of pain and less pleasure and in a few cases at least some pain judiciously mixed in more pleasure.

There's no one to help  us except our will and composed mind to negotiate the stormy weather.The divine intervention is only the additional balance if one is lucky depending upon the karma .In times of the inevitable disaster we must become our worst critic about ourselves rather than blaming others for our lapses and failures..

With the daily experience of life we learn, grow, and evolve to the best of our abilities and the efforts put in ,given the opportunities and the challenges.We must gradually and confidently cultivate the habit of touching, feeling and seeing everything that are nobler and good, more elevating than Degrading.

Being in the perpetual process of evolution we must strive to march towards the next level of good and benevolence.while journeying this will be a long drawn out process and the transition towards a higher spritual realm which is nothing but loving the entire humanity and all the diversity of nature will take time.We need to change the so called challenging beliefs which are life killing and not life giving....

Even while traveling together and enjoying the company and be a part of a larger crowd we are alone in thoughts and be more sensible and responsible in what we say and what we do.But most of the time we are either unwilling or unable to decide what to do....

We may not be great in whatever we do; but we must try and get the best out of us by honest and decent means.Even if God does not will and can't help us we will atleast get the wages of labour as kural says...we will be pleasantly surprised by our efforts..

 

Good-bye 2020 for teaching us the lessons of life

2020, christened as à reference year and benchmark for long

To attain some goals or targets thoroughly in a mistaken fashion without doing the necessary homework 

Is on its final leg now,leaving behind bitter memories

And truckload of thoughts on the lessons of life

Speeding up the train of fear on death related horror.

The family of corana or any other virus and benign or malign bacteria

Is neither new or novel ,nor strange or special

The only difference is that with heightened valour and  enriched strength they assert their rights to live by invading the weak host bodies,given a chance...

Will they dare to penetrate into any strong immune system

And improved life style of human befriending nature

And not denying economic space to others meaning the 

Disadvantaged and other trillions of species enveloping the globe,but playing a larger role and having a louder voice

In maintaining harmony and constantly reshaping the destiny of the world for better?

When the humans have become greedy,mean, reckless, stupid in appropriating all the resources under the sun

By resorting to violence and terror in the name of religion

Race or skin colour,sex and drug and trivalizing love and ridicuilng it,the nature steps in to teach a lesson and 

Maintain balance by the re-formed and reinvented weapon of mass destruction called a semi lifeless virus capable

Of shaking the mighty and mad men in authority soaked in arrogance and vengeance.

The Result:

The train of fear has accelerated and not likely to halt

And the life has become more fragile and uncertain.

If crude,crass and gross opportunism of the fascist regime does not mend  its way

And the money making madness in education and health does not stop and 

Global geo-politics continue to distort the priorities

By making international politics to outsmart international economics

Corana kind of virus will play mischief and educate the mankind and make them humble.

My classroom assertive statement that recession and stagflation will be the norm in future and that 

John Maynard Keynes will not die that easily.....

Keynes and Marx have more to say about the dynamics of capitalism with all their opposing standpoint...

Good-bye 2020 and we welcome 2021 without any expectations or any trepidation in the hearts..

Hoping for the best is not folly

But not having concern for the fellow creatures is

Definitely foolhardy...

Random Reading of Poet Bharathi- 3

United we stand and Divided we fall 

It's only when we are united there is Life

If that unity  amongst us is shaken and dismantled

Then it will spell downfall for all of us

And signal a great setback.

It's time you distilled the essence of this

And internalized the truth and adhere to it

Once this wisdom has dawned upon us

What else we need in life ?

Random Reading of Poet Bharathi- 2

We are not botherd about the caste or religion,

If you had attained  an exalted status /

In this birth  in a better and superior surrounding

You should know, then

Be it a Vedic scholar or someone belonging to 

A different clan or caste, kindly remember

It does not make any difference,

They are one and the same.

Even if they belong to a lower strata ,say paraiyars

Did they not live here for long wi th us 

Will they suddenly become Chinese, an alien

Will they cause us harm ,as one would expect

From other country men.

Here castes are countless in thousands

But does not mean the others, strangers 

Could enter and make us uneasy and 

Is there any justice in it ?

All of us were born from the stomach of 

One mother.

There might be quarells, friendly fight

Kindly remember we are all brothers.

(Translating poet Bharathi, in poetic prose, Adelaide 2020)

Adelaide Diary 2020: 1

I am professor  D Sambandhan. Like Rahuram  Rajan  former RBI  Governor  I would say I do what I do.

The greatest  thing in my life is that an invisible  hand, the divine  grace has nursed and nurtured  me for a larger part of life.

Like my parents  I lived in truth and honesty  and led a simple and frugal  life.

No great ambition  , goal or target worth mentioning. This does not mean  it was a directionless  life or I didn't  grasp  the significance  and purpose  of my academic  life.

The truth is I didn't  try to be someone. I remained  what I  was.I am  what  I  am today and  I  do what I  do  by sheer guidance  from the above.This has nothing  to with any trade in love with  God or bargaining  with the creator  of the universe. 

Being disorderly  orderly  and  not conditioned  by any  habit of visiting  temple  on my own I was unconventional  in my faith and  belief  in the supreme in a typical  unconscious  way.

To put it differently  I never identified  myself  with the religion  into which I  was born nor fall into any  caste craziness  to degrade myself. It just happened by sheer divine will.

Indeed  with all  my blessings  in life good parental  genes  ,great childhood  friends, excellent  teachers  and  all the happy accidents in education  all through  my life I had become  aware  that I  was fine tuned  by some power from above  and  I was just a puppet  in the drama of life.And yet I had more anger with the creator given  the grinding  poverty  and escalating  inequality  among  the people in the world in typical  spirit of Bharathiyar  and Valluvar..There was a rebel  in me crying  for justice  and equality  although  at personal  level  I was more than  blessed...

This duality  persists  even  now  when  I  have reached the threshold  of serene  seventy. 

I have not abandoned  the child and poet in me and the rebellious  side against  the establishment  right from  the start has stayed put.i remained  at a healthy  distance  from the power machine..

To be fair and honest  any residual  or little  ambition  worth  mentioning  is my passionate  interest  in teaching  and  unconsciously  imbibing  the spirit  of helping  the fellow  humans- a trait I cultivated  from parents. This attribute was fully  reflected  in my work  and attitudes  under all circumstances. I took teaching  and reading  with  all sincerity  of purpose  and  my universe was the student  community. Quite inevitably  it had its own  fallout   on the domestic  side.

Although  I didn't  neglect  the  family  and children, they were never treated  as a matter of much significance  given  my naivety  and  preference  for a life of simplicity  and frugality. 

The poetic  statement  :

Blessed is he who has found  his work / Let him ask  no other happiness  was true in my case.

During  my previous  trip to Adelaide  2017/18 I scribbled Dsam on dsam  and  some were put in Face book  and  also blog. I do not fully  remember..That diary  will be located  once I reach  my home and memories /Memoirs  will  be synthesized..

(My Scribbling  pad: Adelaide  2020)

A poem of just 12 lines

Derek Mahon an Irish poet famous for his book ,Life on Earth  and  a host of poems died of liver cancer  on Oct 1 2020.

The Times has paid rich tributes to him.

His 12 lines poem captures  the inescapable  anxiety  caused by the virus and  the humanity 's unfailing  resilience  even  at the worst of times.

The poem Everything  is going  to be Alright. 

How  should  I  not  be  glad  to contemplate 

The clouds clearing  beyond  the dorm our window 

and a high tide reflected on the ceiling 

There will  be dying, there  will be dying 

but there  is no need to go into that

The poems flow from  the  hand unbidden 

And the hidden  source is the watchful  heart

The sun rises in spite  of everything 

And the far cities are beautiful  and bright 

I lie here in a riot of sunlight 

Watching  the day break and the clouds flying 

Everything  is going  to be Alright. 

Just  a para to capture  his crying  of the soul  and  I am  mesmerized  by it as I sail in the same  boat

" Mahon more  usually  gave  the  impression  that  existence was a slog or an obstacle  course without  winning  post....it was as if he were searching  for  something  that he knew could  never  be found  and yes if he didn't  keep looking,what  was the point?

He didn't  drive and never used a mobile  phone or the internet. All he required in his later years was a notebook, his type writer , a table and chair, and a view out the window  towards the port and  the sea beyond..

Valluvar , Vallalar and our national Poet Bharathiyar were in a sense terrorist of noblest variety: Let's imbibe their spirit of Righteous Anger

In an age and environment  where information  is flooding  like torrential  rain it's  debatable  to what extent  we are  gathering  knowledge  and making  use of it for personal  gain or rendering  public good.

 Understanding is deeper than knowledge.At seventy I sincerely feel that education has not given me either understanding of myself or the knowledge of my subject.

Foolishly I had thought that age has mellowed me down and the angry man in me has vanished into thin air and that and I keep my eyes wide open and watch what  I am doing.

The absurdity and uncertainty of life including its unpredictability always remind me that unless there's grace from above and distilled essence of wisdom flowering from within one could be  a slave to anger ,that is the most dangerous virus which will paralyse your limbs and stupify the mind putting pressure on the heart and the entire constitution of the body.

Here more than the receiver , the giver ie the author and architect of anger suffers more.This is an interesting role reversal ...

This does not imply that ànger doesn't have any role to play.

Indeed poet Bharathi had always asked us to cultivate righteous and reasoned anger.That is what I have internalized right from my appointment as Assistant professor in 1970.Two decades later this trait gave me the title Academic Terrorist..

Benevolent Terrorism like benevolent dictatorship is very much the need of the hour all over the globe  as rightists in power have been  unleashing  violence  and suffering  on the disadvantaged  by fully exploiting  the pathetic  pandemic  situation. 

Nearer home intellectuals with dissenting voices  have been  hunted and the much worrisome  factor  is that both the media and the judiciary  have not bothered to collar the wrong  doers.

These  law abiding  citizens  are frustratingly  irritated  with the fast deteriorating economic  and social  situation  and its attendant consequences  for the livelihood  issues of the most dispossessed and disadvantaged.

 The intellectuals  who care for the sanity of the system operate with pen and tongue and not gun and hatred.Here blood does not spill but ideas clash and spark fire and that destroys all the evils and ills and help create a new society.

Viewed from this perspective valluvar, vallalar , Vivekananda and Bharathi are  great humanists  and benevolent terrorists of finest variety who couldn't tolerate injustice and discrimination of all kinds.

At a time when non issues  become  main issues and real economic  issues get relegated  to the background  we need the reasoned  and righteous  anger of Poet Bharathi. 

If the educated  and the elite and the vast middle  class get fooled and seduced by the call of the consolidation  of Hindu unity and Hindutva  victory  then  a time will come  when they will be annihilated  by the Tsunami  of Nature.. 

 We the people  of India  need to draw limits  to the mischief  indulged in by the rulers  in the name of language  politics  and  pseudo  religious  sentiment. The moral universe of these power  mongering  unprincipled  politicians  has shrunk  and  become almost  nonexistent. 

This is the time to internalize  the righteous  anger of Poet Bharathi  and  Valluvar  to put the economy  back on the rails.

Dear PM when will you become a lover of truth

Sir ever since  the days of  your stupid  misplaced political  measure namely demonetisation  but launched in the guise of Economic reform  which later your supporters have preferred to call as a regime  of policy change  to cull out black money and stamp out  the cult of corruption  ...you have been  telling  lies..

Without  having sufficient  new money you fooled the people :in 50 days the problem  will be solved.

Again  you thundered:black money holders are losing  sleep  ....like soldiers people  must come forward  to sacrifice  life..God  knows how the crooked and wicked made more money  during  this period. 

When  growth  faltered and unemployment  escalated  you called the critics as anti Indians. 

What's  the economic  rationale  for your anger against  Muslims?

Does your  RSS background  and training  warrant  that you must remain slave for your  ideology  even  while it's  destructive  of  the social  fibre of the nation.

You were critical  of Aadhar , GST , petrol  price hike , and many  other  things when you were chief minister in Gujarat.

After sitting  on the driver's  seat as PM you took  an U turn.

Touch your conscience  and tell me how you could be that ignorant  , of the dominant  role played by Nehru in building  modern  india and  strengthening  the basic social  and economic  infrastructure  and  laying  the foundation  for sustained scientific  and technological  progress.  .

Now you're  selling  the assets built by your predecessors  and  you blame them shamelessly. 

You think that you can maintain  stoic silence and use your office  to do full time  politics  and convert India into Gujarat  Raj..and favor  your friends...

Truth is known  to the entire  solar system. Be it chinese occupation  of our region, your degree certificates  or the prevailing  fragile  fiscal  situation  you tell lies.

While  RBI warns about the worst  economic  scenario  in the recorded  history , you mesmerize the  nation  like a magician  that the country  is poised for Mars.

When  are you going  to behave  like a sensible  and responsible  PM? 

There's  a saying: 

Truth  is like surgery.  It hurts but cures.Lie is like a pain killer. It  gives instant  relief  but has side effects  for ever.

The problem  today is all  your lies are generating  huge side effects  and corana  is laughing  at you. 

Again  you ask the poor to sacrifice. You're  the only PM in the entire  solar system  to give large concessions  to corporates  and squeeze the maximum  from the ordinary  even  in a pandemic  situation. 

And also have time for photo  shoot  and that is also  relished by vested interests. 

You have  not lived in truth  and honesty

Your lies will backfire  one day 

But the nation  is hurt enough  .

This was written last September at Adelaide..This was the time when other nations were preparing for the second wave and augmenting their medical infrastructure and busy  with vaccinations process...

Here what you and your health minister told ,I must rmind now and international media is tearing into pieces.

Your carefully built image ,the brand   is just collapsing and also wrcking ruin and causing havoc throughout the country

The nation cries: I can't breathe...

We don't mind if he goes, many  including your admirers say.

Arundhati Roy has already written to you to step down

Many put posters in anger.

I know you  will be the last person to feel the pain and seek  apology for your lapses and lack of foresight.That was evident during demonetization crisis.

In terms of the scale duration and depth of the crisis the current health emergency is so devastating that  we will become a nuisance and threat to international community too.They will not remain quiet like a pussy cat.

This is what Arundhati Roy was hinting at and now The Washington Post underlines it thus:

India is not a far away problem. In pandemic time and distance every place is near by .

This is what poet Bharathi thundered.

Translating  a few lines:

When  confronted  with those who tread on adharma path and  commit  acts of sin and  offend your finer sensibilities,

Do not be afraid  my dear sweet girl

Head on smash and crush them my girl..

You spit on their face..

We need poet Bharathiyar  and Ambedkar and Periyar   all combined  together  to terrorize  the evil and dark forces  which are divisive  and destructive  of the lives of ordinary  people  .

This is the essence  of the righteous  anger which  all of us must imbibe. 

you should have lived more with little pain

Like children in thy school  of love

The alphabet  of love we learn;

Along thy path to death I move

And I am glad; I  will  not  turn. 

A  J  Arberry

Three years have gone since you have  chosen  to live

Without  the old clothes..

Are you at peace and  you came  in the dream  yesterday .

I was angry and your absence  made me uneasy 

Then you showed your face wryly  smiling  with satisfaction .

I am amazed by boundless  love for you after you ceased to exist 

Now  I exist  with  all my cravings  for your nearness and warmth...

Like a child  I cry  for you and my parents..

You should  have lived  more

I should  have loved more

Even  while  your possessive  love  was causing  an endogenous  disturbance. 

We must have  struck  a delicate  balance while  tasting  the wine of life..

We were entitled  for more dignity  and  delight. 

My dear, my life  and my fire

We all remember  your saintly  silence  and posture for more than a day....wilfully  chosen  or by default  of fate...

You didn't  allow  my academic fire to extinguish 

Although  it did affect  our life inadvertently...

I am  trapped  by my lustful  love at serene  seventy..

You have left me alone and unhappy. 

Will you light the lamp of compassion  and grace into my heart,

with your your child like glance  of  innocence  and  bliss..

And help me to tread on a righteousness and virtue as a code of my life

You should  have lived more

We should  have loved more

An angry man who ventilated despair in poetic prose.

All through  his life he remained  as  Reader.see his naivety  and plain foolishness 

After  a quarter century  of service  already  on Reader scale  did  not hesitate  to  join  as Reader as only  that post was advertised...

He remained  content  in teaching  and  writing  what  was relevant. The Hindu  Business  Line  opened  a new vista  and  he continually  provided  a critical  commentary  on contemporary  developments  in the domestic  and  international  economy 

Today  when  he looks  back and attempts  to compile  those essays  on economic reform  and exchange  rate economics  under the title   From  Marx To Market  and Other  Essays  on Manmohanamics he feels  immensely  happy  and  amply  rewarded 

For the last many  years this project  is getting  delayed. 

While  dsambandhan  was fully  appreciative  of the invisible  hand of the competitive  forces  of market  and the Smithian  self  interest  he was also  equally  conscious  of the oppressive  and disruptive  character  of market  which is sometimes  assisted and  colluded  with the irresponsible  and malign  state  for the pecuniary  consideration  of the vested  interests..

At a time when  Nehru as an architect  of modern  India  is ridiculed  and  undermined and post demonetization and GST  ECONOMY  followed  by inadequate  economic  response  to covid  disaster all leading to economic  ruin  and   more dissension  and  religion  also adding  fuels  to the fire

It is felt that  some reworking  must be done and  do some revisiting  through  the lens of Bus.Business  line essays. 

Dsam is  attempting  to breathe  in the necessary  oxygen and if God wills  in a matter of months  it should  see the light  of the sun...

It's  is his firm belief  that those essays  were not written  merely  in a journalistic  perspective  but with all  rigorous  economics  and  students   the serious  students  and  also teachers  will be appreciative  of the work 

Being  a man  of perfection  the more he refines and  polishes the  introduction  and  the postcripts he gets distanced  away. He hopes that  as there are many semi processed  and fully  finished  materials  waiting  in the wings I must clear one by one so that liberation  process begins from  August..dsambandhan  @50.

Looking forward at Adelaide on 6 August 2020: dsambandhan@50

When I cancelled the U S trip scheduled for a fornight and got ready for my second visit to Adelaide in November 2019,I was mentally prepared for a long stay and return ticket was booked for May.The intervention of the semi virus which paralysed the economic activity world wide did upset all the plans and the rescue efforts made in March or April were too late and my grandson  was glad that  the black old man would be a part of his Birthday celebration in mid June..

Change of weather and pleasant autumn and winter did have an unsetling effect and it was a  new experience for me.For the first time I felt that I was no longer young and that old age was just catching up and hence I should be ready to accept the reality without being trapped into any anxiety or fear..A lot of poems were written, many movies mostly Malayalam ones were seen and forgotten and Tamil books merited more attention and Norwood Library gave some solace...

But in the unconscious mind the longing to see the house and carass the books in my home town was always there..Most importantly my critical inability to convert my handwritten notes into the machine and later into the net had haunted my mind and this  acdemic uneasiness seven years after my retirement was perplexing.was it because of 6 August, 2020?

World is not waiting for me to write. but I know that God has given additional bonus time for a purpose and he will question me when my time or turn comes...This self imposed or self inflicted objective instilled a fresh wind and with the new found enthusiasm took break from face book and contemplated on the task to be completed .The best way to celebrate the 50 years of Academic madness and goalless life led thus far ,was to restart the engine and resume the romance with the dollar and in just 2 hours I wrote without much supportive  notes..Later oneday unable to sleep after 3 43 started writing down a small list of the works which need to be completed if God wills..

Having lived with books and also cultivated the habit of writing in note books and now getting used to typing with two fingers, I felt that the residual time must be invested in a manner which will ensure good health and a sense of well being no matter what's going to be its academic spillover.To get out of the depression I recalled the face of one scholar in Loyola College who showed all the paper cuttings of my articles in Business Line..

I am a solitary reaper.Despite my best attempts to rope in partners I could not get positive response as I was an illiterate in quantitative techniques and other tricks...I must hasten to add that there are still a few of my students not direct ones who are in top positions and also in limelight who do  bother me and discuss sometimes on exchange rate economics...

My professor Sasankan from Manacud Trivandrum used to say that Economics is nothing but common sense made difficult by professors in the classroom..

I am not updated  now.I can't read more .But a few of my students regularly goad me by sending the links and also putting questions.

I am giving auto suggestions to myself that dsambandhan is only @ 50 and that  70 is just a number which denotes age for record.post retirement was academically fruitful.

Thanks to my student friends who are now professors and my guardian Dr B Kamaiah I had the privilege of being a part of Economics conclaves in Pune Gokhale Institute,2014 and Hyderabad central university,2015 and  also be a part of demonetization debate along with C P Chandrasekhar in Kerala University ,2016/17. 

With my soulmate saying goodbye in 2017 and spending my time in South Australia in 2017end and 2018 beginning and 2019 end and almost major partof 2020special year I am trying to read and type every day from August ...

The woods are dark and deep and the weather is benign and before the commercial flight starts I want to settle down and be ready for mytake off in the Academic sky.. Economics is only one side and there are many things to see and do and enjoy every moment of life...My celebration of life has begun at 50 and I am grateful to the supreme for having given me the excellent teachers and affectionate but demanding students...kural says that it's easy to say but accomplishment , translating the goals into reality  is very difficult....Let us move along with the current and navigate without much expectation and anxiety.we can only do what's destined and also what we are capable of...Yes. .. remaining in the battlefield matters most than winning the war...for we will not die while we are alive... That's is what I am aiming at.Thank you my friends.

The list reads like this

Books

From Marx to Market and Other Essays on Manmohanamics

What's Happening to world Money?

A few episodes in the U S dollar's journey as a world money.

Making Sense of the Currency crisis of 1990s

Essays in International Finance from Business Line

A Silent Soliloquy on campus politics:

The wild Tigers can't be caged

Understanding Globalisation and Towards An Alternative Globalisation:

Slim monographs:

A random reading of Marx's Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844:

My MPhil Essay

Insulation of a stable economy from exogenous economic disturbances:

An examination of Laursen - Metzler - Sohmen effect.

My phD seminar paper at Gokhale Institute of politics and economics.

On Social Cost of flattery and psychopancy in Assembly corridors and academic institutions:

With a sympathetic commentary on it by Professor Lenin Thangappa.

Prof John F Kyle's PhD thesis: Balance Of Payments in a monetary economy: A Review

The entry and purpose of Devaluation in a  Developing Economy, as a Keynesian Medicine

When will Devaluation Work?

A Rudimentary analysis of Purchasing Power Parity Theory: An Incomplete Review

Professor Paul Samuelson' s correction of David Humes ' Price Speice Flow Mechanism:

A Note Of Dissent.

On Pitfalls in the Art Of Macroeconomic Model Building for Open Economy:

Revisiting Sidney Alexander and Fritz Maclup Debate.

The Much Forgotten Monetary Approch To Balance of payments Theory: How did I waste a Few Months in my Fellowship days as Harry G Johnson did in his final days of life?

What Makes the Exchange Rate To Move?:

A Few Rough Explanations

How does Exchange Rate enter Into An Open Economy Framework:An exercise in Extending professor Yeager's Example.

What did I learn from the New Revelations of Paul Krugman on Exchange Rate Economics?

Does Exchange Rate work?

Living with Disequilibrium Exchange Rates:

A Fact Of Reality!

The Nexus Between Exchange Rate and Interest Rate:

The Famous International Fischer Effect.

The Theoretical Significance and Empirical Relevance of Dornbuch's Overshooting Model

China Plays Mischief with Exchange Rate:

A Lesson For Emerging Markets.

A Letter to My Thesis Supervisor:

Reflecting in Tranquility on Pune days and also my acdemic life.

Adelaide Diary 2017/2018

Adelaide Diary 2019/2020

Kamam Tender than Flower

And Stronger than Liquor:

Translating kural

Time Flies and The Rest is Lies

A collection of poems

As The Numbers Loved her

I loved my only girl friend:

I Missed You!

A collection of poems.

Translating Poet Bharathi and others :

I listened to my Instincts

prabanchan's short Story in Kalki

Translation

Short Story in Ananda Vikatan by 

Chokkan: Translation

Letters written to my Daughters and not posted

My Dateless Diary in Tamil and English:

Emotive Feelings ventilated for Relief

Modi as Brand Marketed well by Vested Interests

A Structural Retrogression in Indian politics?

Revisiting Keynes, Marx and C N Annadurai

On Empty Economic Spaces

Corana Deepens Inequality.

The list is not complete.... it's in the hands of supreme to goad me gently and also swiftly towards purposeful life of Academic work which will ensure good health and emotional equilibrium

Be beautiful for ever my dear

My dear 

Be happy  always 

That's  one way of being  wise

Be diligent  and intelligent 

That  will make you more  strong 

Be good  and do  good things 

Have a passionate  love to help others.

Be angry and impatient 

Be funny  witty  and  crazy sometimes. 

Dance  stretch your  body and relax 

Cultivate  skills  and  also righteous anger

Don't  hesitate  to stand up and speak 

Be a woman  of deeds and  just  words 

Live in truth  and honesty

Don't  allow  anyone  to mess up your  life 

Parents  do not own you

You have  only  come through  them

Blessed  are you

If you find your work and

also stumble  upon  a boy

Of your  choice  and liking 

No trade in love 

It's  just the magic  of eyes

Listen  to your heart

Brain  may cheat 

No cost  benefit  calculus 

Self confidence  and self respect  matters most

Believe  in the goodness  of the  universe 

Power  and beauty  will beckon  you

They  will  envelop  you for ever

At any age you will be beautiful 

For ever 

Say to yourself  

I am  beautiful  and  healthy 

Yes my dear

You are always  beautiful  and wonderful 

Are not our mothers  beautiful  always 

You are more like my mother 

You are incredibly  beautiful 

Scribbling  pad from  Adelaide  2020

Prelude to  dsambandhan  @50

education policy

I am the one who is in favour of learning in mother tongue as I had done so in my native village along with English as the second language from standard 3.Later Hindi became the additional third language which I studied till standard eleven and I had unusually a high level of proficiency in that language for a while.Fortunately the famous anti Hindi agitation in 1965 questioned the imposition of Hindi and  Nehru assured that Hindi will not be imposed on non Hindi speaking population.Despite passing Prathmic ,I had the finer sensibilities to join the anti Hindi bandwagon.i was matured enough to understand that no single language could be allowed to dominate and bulldoze other languages which were richer.

Where do I stand now when the new education policy is announced with a lot of Indianness appearing in many places.

Although studying in one's own mother tongue is good and it must be welcome the ground level reality is that many state governments have not equipped their local languages with updated books and to add insult to the injury English is undermined in the new scheme of things in the name of Indianness and homogenisation process.

 We must remind the deaf and the dumb and say that India is a continent comprising of states with a lot of diversity and heterogeneity in language art culture and traditions.There is nothing like Indianness that you can crow about.

Furthermore the stakeholders are the students parents and teachers whose preferences and choices matter most as the prime objective is not just to gain knowledge but to get jobs and also equip oneself adequately to stand on his legs  and become a self employed or emerge as entrepreneurs..The architects of new education policy thunder that this will lift india from deprivation to development and from seeking job to creating job and so on.

The so-called professionalism and the focus on national languages and the Indianness are the logical derivatives of the clearly defined and well crafted strategy to undermine and dethrone the international language namely English.

Why there's more dissent  and consternation ? what's home language and national or regional language....since India is converted into Hindia and Hinduthuva has become the only creed to be permitted as Muslims are treated as enemies ,the next logical step for them is to bring in Hindi-isation process and promote this language in Hindi speaking states and establish a hegemony of power in a graduated manner

Though education is in the concurrent list and the centre can't simply bulldoze the domain of the state, the feverish enthusiasm towards Hindi-isation stems from the fact that many states are coming under the spell of BJP either by ballet manipulated or through buying or bullying legislators, let us call it political re engineering.This is nothing but saffronisation and sanskritsation to the detriment of the vast majority functioning under the decentralised system now.

Long ago C N  Annadurai told that besides Tamil, English is sufficient to interact both domestically and internationally.The revival of three language formula once again is an unwanted burden. .To me, a Tamil with the exception of sister languages like Malayalam, Telugu and 

Kannada ,all other languages are foreign.Indeed they are more foreign than the customised English language which is more native to me by training and its standpoint of utility.

Going by  my experience in the last 50 years of Academic life till 8th standard the mother tongue can be tried as a medium of instruction in each state along with English as the important second language and there's no need for any third language in the form of an extra luggage. You can only force the donkey to bear this kind of burden and not insist a horse which wants to run with maximum efficiency without being burdened by ideological cobwebs and outdated concepts in the name of homogenisation.

Post independent India has made remarkable progress with all our constraint and challenges.Sunder Pitchai  the CEO of Google is a standing example to showcase....Hindi naheem malum and I can reach to greater heights through English and my own creative energtic intelligence..

Sahuntaladevi is a movie worth watching for its narrative skill and the content of message.

By sheer strange quirk of fate I watched the movie twice in less than thirty six hours.The conflicts of interest between professional and personal life of the great mathematician whom the numbers loved is neatly captured.The genius sorry the mathematical wizard right from her childhood is autonomous and rightly considers herself as the father of the family and extremely angry and agitated with her mother for her stupidity in not raising her voice against her husband who is a failed man in life and a dependent on the young daughter for conducting the show and earning income.

The young girl is unable to digest the sudden demise of her sister for want of treatment in the face of father's indifference given his financial plight and takes vow that she will become a big woman and rule the world.

By a happy accident she travels the wide world and proves her ingenious skills with numbers and stumble upon a guy in Calcutta, an IAS officer a very decent down to earth good human, more understanding and less demanding and accommodative gentleman.

The story goes on like this with a series of flash back which does not confuse the audience.while the wizard conquers the world and makes a great fortune their child is taken care of by the father.

When Sahuntaladev hears the baby uttering the word Daddy and not Amma ,she takes the flight and takes charge of her daughter.

The mother who lost her childhood is repeating the mistake of rendering the same fate to her daughter when the latter becomes an appendage or luggage wherever she travels.

The child develops more heightened hatred towards mother with all wealth and affluence and she does not want to live under the shadow of her mother' s popularity.

Fortunately  the daughter gets into a boarding school and when the time comes for marriage alliance with Mother's approval the boy is insisted to join the family in London.

Having been distanced from dad for long the girl does not want to lose her love and by sheer  fate becomes mother though she did not want to be one like her mother.

Th mother and daughter understand each other towards the end  and both realise that with all bottled up love they have seen their mother only as mother and not as woman and they are what they are because of their mother

Vidya Balan is superb in bringing about the wit and and wisdom of the great mathematician .

Craving for perfect equality between husband and wife is easily said than done.The climax scene is  so touching that the mother plays with mathematical genius which once robbed of the happiness of both the husband and daughter

The lady says there's nothing to compare the joy she has found in the twinkling eye of her daughter and that's more than million pounds...

I have just told the skeleton of the story in a rudimentary way without being more critical.

I could smell and get the sound of my own family members raising an accusing finger that how a good teacher has failed as a good husband.

Yes as numbers loved her I loved economics.it is just a fact.i may not have been a quantitative economist but at a fundamental level and also some sophistication of theory I did justice to my first love which still mesmerizing me like my Tamil language which I had ignored for long

There's no free lunch.There is always trade off.There is a  clash of interest between professional and personal life

I did not strike any delicate balance as was the case with that great mathematician. No regrets.i could not have been otherwise

Empty Economic spaces Threaten life

Away  from Facebook  for a fortnight 

Cut off from French town  home for months 

With occassional WhatsApp  calls and messages

And contemplating  on the current  dollar's  dilemma

I have been  striving  to renew myself  afresh. 

There's  peace and quiet here

In Adelaide  I can  lock the house and walk  out to the sun

When it shines brightly and more gently 

Even  during  winter

By sheer position  and geographical location 

Australian  coastlines  are 

A sheer beauty  pleasant  sight to watch

"Where the sea beats upon a wider shore" 

And around  these nerves cities  have lined up.

While  Sydney  and Melbourne  have been  battling  with the semi virus 

Adelaide  has swiftly  recovered  and it's  much safer relatively

While  I am  in the comforts  of home and confronting  winter

And wrapped  up in love and affection 

The others  the collective  term  which captures  all the disadvantaged  under the sun

Are  missing  their work and sleep 

When  empty  economic spaces frighten them.

There's  no solution  in sight

Except  to fight it alone in their hearts.

The corana, the US dollar and world economy

The corana has not just shaken the world economy through shut down and slow down but also jolted the US dollar .The disease can't be soley blamed because the entire responsibility rests on  Donald Trump for his inept handling of both the disease as also the economy .

By menacingly embracing America first policy and inflating America's nationalism in a thoroughly misplaced fashion, he has engendered trade and currency wars with China and the rest of the world ..

America's economic  illness stems from its ridiculous low savings and this macroeconomic imbalance, investment exceeding domestic saving spiller over into trade and current account deficits resulting in more unemployment at home .His tirade agaisnt foreign labour as if they are stealing away the American jobs is also devoid of economic logic.Tarrifs do not save jobs as it relocates labour and raises costs which eventually affects competitiveness..

For long the excessive absorption of the US  was masked by captive capital flows and the critical ability to attract them at low interest rate.

But the post covid  financial and economic scenario suggest that Europe , Japan and China are now better placed and the reliance on risky dollar will no longer be relished .The talk of digital currency and china's new found enthusiasm to undermine the dollar hegemony are the pointers for a new international monetary order..The dollar will have a secular tendency to decline inorder to correct its distorted exchange value which was not allowed to be corrected earlier.This was the familiar dollar dilemma stemming from its key currency status and the fear of currency appreciation of the surplus countries like China.

The US has been operating with the twin prices namely interest rate and exchange rate which It did not deserve but enjoyed and that only excesprated the US problem.The US enjoyed it because others allowed it.

Now the million dollar question is whether or not gold will continue to dance without interference ? Clearly revealing that market has lost faith in the risky dollar.

Will China make efforts to make its currency popular.?will Euro be an ALTERNATIVE?

Gold is not money now but just a commodity and yet it becomes super money whenever dollar is in deep trouble.

The happening today is only the old story repeated with more sophistication with a prayer for treating the US as any other ordinary country..

How to handle  the huge dollar asets beld by foreign central banks ?They will not afford to sink the dollar ship by just abandoning it as everyone will lose..The best way now is allow the dollar to fall and meanwhile convert the dollars into some other assets..But someone has to hold  those unwanted dollars.The US  by exporting can accept them.But does it have the capacity to do so ? Will others allow?

The tricky issue is all the debts are in US dollars..The US can simply print and pay them.if that happens who will own them and hold it for long?

The dollar as transaction currncy,  reserve currency and invoicing currency is suspect now.No solution is in immediate sight ..

America has to tighten the belt and pay the price as other countries have done .

But as a rich nation but poor by the criteria of ballooning debt, weak growth , incredibly weak fiscal, more unemployment and expected inflation and inflationary expectations leading to rise in interest rate and so on will not that easily forgo the continuing residual key currency advantages.who will break  the ice? what ever might be the outcome post covid world economy can't go on with greater asymmetric benefits among countries.world is trapped  not by corana but also by greater viruses like irresponsible global leadership and rightist tilt in politics and policy which has ignored the vital questions like inequality and rising economic deprivation for many.The predicament of dollar and it's existential dilemma now can't be separated from these.Labour mobility is threatened now and for the first time capital movements will be also tested by the health of the economy both general health and economic health.

will the US have the exorbitant privilege of printing dollar and have it supported by the Aisan central banks and foreign investors ?

In my post entitled what's happening to world money  I made a reference to rising fiscal deficit and declining US economy and let me continue the story of the inevitable but slow death of dollar.

The corana virus has only compounded the economic chaos engendered by Trump administration in the recent times .

The fall in the value of dollar is now the natural consequence of ultra cheap money policy pursued in response to the pandemic crisis and the consequent fall in the yield of the Treasury bonds and securities.when combined with the data that the cumulative fiscal deterioration over decades has made the public debt to touch 100% relative to the GDP.

All these have  rekindled the fear that the US will not be a safe haven under the present circumstances.The Expectation is that given the precarious fiscal and interest rate at zero level, the cheap money policy and explosion in liquidity will become the reality, unmindful of the inflatinary consequence.

Any country accumulating debt will attempt to deflate away its value by debasing it and that's what the US is doing now.This is nothing but Mundell's Law which I have coined in my thesis.

Kindly recall that post 2008 crisis the quantitative easing pumped more money and easy monetary policy solved the problem.After initial capital outflow, the US could attract more nervous capital from other counties.But now the case is different..No longer the interest rate configuration and the plausible rise in dollar appreciation in future is there to undertake carry foward trade and bring money to the US.capital is going out.without controlling virus and frittering away the gloabal leadership Trump can't use the exorbitant privilege  of benign neglect on the fiscal front.

This is not to suggest that  the dollar will lose  its weight as reserve currency overnight  as more than 60%  of world foreign exchange reserves is still in the form of dollar and china's yuan is just 2%.So China's move to decouple will not have any instantaneous magic..

what's happening to world money now?

The title given above has been my self financed project for more than a decade and that has been in a state of suspended animation.In my PhD thesis I had addressed this question way back in the early 90's.

Despite the progressive decline in America's economic strength the U.S dollar continued to play the role of the major key currency as there was no effective alternative for it as Richard N Cooper had pointed out many decades ago .

The brain child of Nobel Laureate professor R A Mundell Euro which was supposed to dethrone the dollar had its own existential dilemma ever since its birth and the European debt crisis exposed the vulnerability of the monetary union of Europe without being a fiscal union and absence of lender of the last resort to help the afflicted nations.

They are now part of history..Close on the heels of the corana virus and the indifference shown by the Trump administration is now the immediate cause for the loss of confidence  on the dollar.Against it's major trading partners currency the US dollar has plunged and it's also being captured by the phenomenal rise in the price of gold,viz.2000 U S dollars an ounce of gold which was just 34 dollars in 1934 when the dollar was devalued from its previous level of 28 dollars.

The prime villain of the piece is of course the gross mismanagement of the economy by Trump .The economic decline is much revealed through a massive rise in fiscal deficit and escalation in unemployment and the traditional safe haven hypothesis which lured the investors is now missing.The confrontation with China has  its share too.It has been making efforts to de dollarize their tade relations and they have alrady begun the process  to reduce the dollar mountain on which that have been sitting.

It appears that the post covid economics constrains and contains the role of the dollar as a key currency..

As the response to the disease a massive tax cuts and government expenditure has contributed to escalation in deficit and there's reason to believe that in the near term the deficit  will be close to 20% of the GDP of America.

To me as a student of international finance it's clear that the days of dollar are being numbered now and the US must measure its steps.But the facts are contraary to what wish.

Reflecting on the futility of our barren existence on this beautiful planet

Before coming here where did I eagerly frequent ?

When the time comes for exit where will I float and land.

Freed from the constraints of the body,

Will there be any immense possibility to flow like water

 Whisper like a wind and rise like  A  mountain.

Fully aware, there is no return ticket to come back to earth and

Not knowing of many whys and How’s and also when and where

the soul will rest , on its journey after abandoning  the body

I exist here for a while as a traveler/ and as a tourist ,

Engaging myself in endless arguments and debates

Meaningless and sterile conversations with fools about this and that

Foolishly or wisely ,with clarity or all the vagueness under the sun

And finally come out of the mess fully confused and bewildered

Fully conscious  of  the futility and emptiness of the very barren existence here.

And the irresponsible rulers, compounding the chaos, by abusing the power.

Have you heard about the short film , 638 ways to kill Castro ?

Fiedal Castro is a legend in the literature on Revolutionary struggle. The standard criticism against him was that he was bulldozing democracy ,but  I must hasten to add  and answer his critics  that his government was people centric and hence people friendly; under his regime all the basic facilities inclusive of education and health care for the poor were  in  adequate measure ; he established more medical colleges that percapita availability of doctors  was  the lowest one and that Cuba was always ready to export doctors in case of emergency anywhere in the world ; and to his credit  no street was named after him nor was there any of his statue erected anywhere in cuba.

The escalating open war between him and the US was well known. Russia  stood  by him and was ready to extend all possible help. Scared by the Russian shadow in her soil, the U S cancelled  the import of 70 lakh tones of sugar from Cuba and Castro retaliated by nationalizing the US assets worth $850 million.

The U S realized  at one stage that more than  killing Cuba’s economy  what was imperative was to eliminate the leader himself. All possible routes were explored to kill him and based on that a short film was taken later.

Having realized that he was a lover of Havana suruttu(cigarattte),a bomb was concealed into it. It did not click. At one stage  more than thousand people were armed to kill him, but he escaped. Poison was mixed in his food and medicine, not to  speak of spraying dangerous virus into his scuba diving suit.

Once his former lover, Marito Lorence  met him and told:”We will celebrate our union by tasting the ice cream.”He smelled the rat .

“Why do you take so much pain, my dear..you can very well shoot me straight and finish me,”said Castro handing over the gun to her ,with all smile.

The lady was shocked and she fell at his feet and surrendered.

When his health deteriorated, the news leaked out that he would take complete rest..That was also ridiculed by the US president George Bush. He thanked the good God by saying that He will remove him from the world soon.

Castro had abundant sense of humor and retorted thus: I think Bush has forgotten that the very same God has saved me 638 times from his enemy…

Protest movement and people’s struggles everywhere are undermined and the voice of dissent is treated as anti national activity..The rulers intoxicated with the arrogance of power like drunken monkeys resort to all sorts of oppression to terrorize and intimidate the poor denying their rights and entitlement..

They should not be disheartened. He began with 82 soldiers to start with and told later that it was just sufficient to have 10 or 15 people to win the struggle. Eventually the incredible belief in oneself combined with good attitudes and actions would determine the outcome and victory…

The stock Market is not the Economy

In the previous post following Paul Krugman we made a pertinent observation that stock market performance, the rise and fall of stock prices do not actually represent the real state of the real economy.

The relationship is spurious,and at times, simply nonexistent.How could one forget the quote of Paul Samuelson made way back in 1960 that market had predicted nine of, the past five recessions

The question of strong stock prices in the face of weak economy should not baffle anyone.Because as in 2008 crisis ,this time too,expansionary policy of the Fed depressed interest rate.

This was the reflection of weak economy and even with weak dollar,either investment or exports have responded.

Indeed the weak conomy created a fertile climate for surge in stock prices,as low interest rate made other avenues less lucrative.

This does not imply that the upward trend will continue.In an unstable and unpredictable economy selective havest is being done and by the time the market capitalization has reached beyond sustainable level,the scenoria mig,ht change

One thing is clear now as it was known earlier, that stock market is not economy and that in a loose monetary environment crashing economy ,the weak economy do support strong stock prices

Paul Krugman revelation on the recent jump in stock prices

Ever since the corana virus invaded the humans the real economy has got the beating . Individual  national economies have lost their fat and weight and GDP figures are driven down.The jobless have gone up in almost all countries.while the real economy is crashing, the stock market which does not always reflect the real state of the Economy, mostly driven by greed and avarice, more like a gambler's den is now on song.

Paul Krugman recently has given more insight as to why the stock prices are on the rise when the real economy is weak.

Although on the heels of Covid the stock market fell it has bounced back now to pre corona level.This disconnect wil be surprising.Krugman tells the deeper reasons.

Despite the economy as a whole is weak, there are stocks which are strong.So investors having no other greener pasture grab those stocks.Result. Stock market is on song

Kugman says that the interst rate on 10year old government bonds is only0.6 percent down from 3% in late 2018.Adjuted for inflation return from bond is nagative.

I have triggered your curiosity to read more international financ

For long I have not written in blog.I will resume my blog writing

The nation is clueless and directionless

Ever since  this government  came to power,I have been  lamenting  the state of the world, both economic  and political, in the great subcontinent  called  India,  the way so many people  in the ruling  party were hard hearted  and closed minded about the plight of others, the Muslim, the dalit, the poor and disadvantaged..

The protector has become  an oppressor, the fence has become  the eater of crops.

The Yes Bank has become  No bank.

Long ago demonetisation  pauperised  the poor  by sucking  money into banks  only  to be deployed  back into the corrupt  segment  of the corporate  sector  with  the full  connivance  of the state..

The banking  which  touches the millions  of people  lives, their savings  and capacity  for spending  have been  hijacked  by the criminals. 

Banks will  lose credibility. 

The payments mechanism  will suffer.

The fear of losing  money will  enhance  the liquidity  preference  of the general  public. 

This will  necessitate  to pump more cash, raising  the cash to deposit  ratio.

Already banks refuse to lend to the needy poor..

What will happen  to financial  intermediaries to the genuine  real  economy. 

Translating poet Bhararhi -1

Maha Kavi ,Bharathi was a national poet who wrote on varied themes in Tamil and through his poems he triggered the spirit of freedom and real Indian nationalism.I do not know how may indians are aware of his contributions.One thing is sure enough , like  Gandhi,Ambedkar Periyar and Patel, he is a great social reformer and will be relevant for all times .

Depending upon time, mood and my ability to translate ,I will strive to convey the poetic thrust Of the great poet Bharathiyar for the global audience.

On the river ganges, in a moon lit night
In the pleasant company of young keralite girls,
singing song in the beautiful sweet Telugu language.
we shall row our boats and make it a routine to play.

Our poet was for real integration...I have just taken a single stanza which was not difficult for me translate..
Among the impending work translating Bharathi will have a priority...I will attempt the possible.