So who makes constant updates on Facebook?

People who are constantly wanting to tell their freinds what they are upto, no doubt, but also:
a) having too much time and b) dont knowwhat to do with it?
c) are feeling insecure?
d) Feel comfortable giving hrly updates so because they love sharing ?
e) Love all their friends?
f) are largely E on the MBTI?
g) Love looking at pictures
h) love the idea of telling people stuff without actually having to talk to someone or seeing them in the eye?
i) Dont like shaking hands?
j) are looking for an easy way to attract attention?
k) all of the above?
l) none of the above?
m) Others?..

Populist Politics are not a Third World Hegemony

This was demonstrated by the mid term elections in the US that concluded on Tuesday, November 2. I was always under the impression that education, free speech, high standards of literacy, a robust and free media, coupled with high levels of income would make an electorate thoughtful and base their decisions on a balanced consideration of the issues before them. In other words, I thought they would be sane. I was wrong clearly and I can now fullyappreciate Jon Stewart's rally to restore Sanity. Only thing - he failed.

Over the last six months, the people of the US have been taken up by the soundbites of the Republicans - Less Government, Lower Taxes, No government in Healthcare, etc. The Republicans have had little details to offer, but I am just struck by how people respond to simplistic messages and dont bother to delve into details. The Republicans are acting like some fundamental rights have been taken away - when none in fact has been touched by the current administration. If anything, the previous government's behaviour in this aspct was questionable. In fact one Republican Pundit went on CNN to say that acccess to good Healthcare was not a Right that all American's should enjoy.

I had a conversation with a cabbie in Anchorage and he told me that Obama had no business stuffing a healthcare plan down people's throat. He also made a comment that Obama ran on the promise of transparency, but in reality he was running everything behind closed doors! Now what struck me was his perception of the whole situation. First of all, the healthcare plan hasnt being stuffed down people's throats. If anything, it is protecting ordinary people from malfeasance by Insurance Companies that as everyone knows have a well deserved reputation for being insensitive to human beings to whom they have sold a policy.

Let's look at the issues that the conservative media and politicians have been complaining about:

1. Too much government - What's unclear is where?...In the financial services sector, in the auto industry - everywhere, if the government had not intervened, the US economy would have been in SHAMBLES. We the ordinary people would have no savings, no pension funds, and would be left to slave till we die. And thanks to the government, GM is back, Citi survives, BOA does too and so do a a million other small companies that depend on these companies. The government is nt running these companies - but isnt it reasonable to say that if the government gives them some money, the government has a right to expect that these companies get their house in order?

Dinesh D Souza made a point some time ago that the government is preventing banks from paying back the money - but he misses the point that the money was given to them to fix their house so that they wouldnt collapse again and that some of the banks were trying to return money without cleaning their mess up!!

The government doesnt dictate that people need to buy healthcare from anybody. And on the education sector the government is spending money so that inner city kids can have a better chance of survival through higher quality education.

On the size of the government, everyone's conveniently forgotten that the size of the government grew faster under Republican Presidents such as Ronald Reagan (he said one thing - but his actions were different).

So where is the too much government?

2. Taxes - only families earning more than 200 k per annum will experience a small increase in taxes. In this country, people who earn 100k per annum pay a higher portion of their income in taxes to the government than those earning millions because of the convulted tax laws around how capital gains are treated (a hedge fund manager pays only 15% on a billion dollar income - while an ordinary worket can pay anywhere between 20% to 39% of their income). I guess very few ordinary American's realize that.

3. The economy and jobs - Over the last three month the private sector has been adding jobs while the public sector has shed jobs. Obama's economic policies have stabilized the economy - but most people dont realize that - and they blame him for not creating more jobs. Well - if the government hadnt propped the banks up, private companies wouldnt have recieved credit and business would have dried up and the unemployment rate would be higher than the 9.6% it is right now.

Yesterday's economic data showed that economy net - net added jobs in the last month. Most people dont realise that fixing the economy takes time and there's a lagged effect of the actions that the Fed or the Treasury takes.

Unfortunately, media like Fox news has been critical of President Obama from day one. Now he has made some mistakes along the way - the famous beer "Gate" event was an unnnecessary distraction, not making enough of an effort to reach across the aisle has been a gross mistake. But they criticized him for bowing to the Japanese Prime Minister, they criticized him for wanting to ensure that insurance companies pay up for pre-existing conditions, they criticized him for saving hundreds of thousands of auto jobs and financial sector jobs, they criticized his wife for going on her own dime to Greece, they criticized him for wanting to wave a peace flag with Iran (which is run by a lunatic no doubt, but fighting with a lunatic gets one nowhere), they criticized him for wanting to take the banks to task for paying fath bonuses on tax payer money...

Now President Obama has been undeniably standoffish, a bit aloof and too sombre at times. And his Communications and PR team has goofed up big time. But all this doesnt take away the point I make earlier - Populist Politics works everywhere - not just in an illiterate populace, but also educated, first world citizens. American Politicians are like politicians everywhere else in the world. So does every populace gets the leadership it deserves?

Why we need Arundhati Roy

So that we have someone who is a bit of a gadfly and doesnt mind making some crazy statements once in a while and gets the population all riled up but not totally incensed. People like her add colour to our society and sometimes her social commentary can also be helpful - in getting some perspective.

Of course there will always be someone who takes her a bit too seriously and gets themselves entangled in their own underwear. Arundhati's shrill cries are cheap entertainment at worst and a call for justice at best. But what is which can vary depending on the reader.

Now how you classify her recent statement about Kashmir never being an integral part of India depends on who you are and which side of the border you are and what you define India as. If you take the point of view that India never existed as a country until 1947, then there is some truth in what she says. But you should also know that about a dozen other princely states and union territories were never an integral part (including Goa). Now if you view India as a geographical mass without clear boundaries, but one that stretched from Iran to Burma, then she is of course blowing dope smoke colour blue.

what she has managed to do is make people sit up and ask some hard questions about kashmir - why did we screw it up so bad? What could we have done differently? - Of course no one is really bothering with the answers to these questions really... because politicians dont care. And that's where people like Arundhati make a difference. Hopefully we can tolerate that - or else we will become like China where citizens are prevented from asking any kind of questions.

The view from outside

The CWG conluded without much incident largely, save some cases of operational glitches - journalists not getting their transport, some weak stomached goras falling sick with Delhi Belly, some officials not getting the attention they wanted, some Aussies throwing furniture out of the room and generally behaving boorishly, etc. By and large a peaceful affair - by Indian Standards.



But thanks to Mr Kalmadi and the organizing committee - We now know what we suspected - our ability to organize events on a large scale eficiently and effectively needs to be developed 100 times over before we can think of organizing the Olympics. Even more - the allegations of corruption and budget misappropriation requires the government to investigate these thoroughly
a) Why was there such a massive budget overrrun?
b) How did the money get spent? Whose pockets has it lined?
c) Which companies have benefited the most?
d) How was the procurement process managed?
e) ...
f..

We could go on with the list. The point is that it's high time someone goes to prison for the absolute embarassment that India had to deal with. Hope we learn some lessons and kick some political ass here. I bet the Chinese are laughing at the Indians.

In the meantime - let's give kudos to the Indian athletes who won medals- Saina Nehwal, Deepika Kumari, the 4 x 400 relay team, Anita, the recurve Archery team, the Indian wrestlers, the shooters, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa, Sushil KUmar, Gaurava Narang and everybody else. And to all the other athletes who participated from all the other countries. At least the games were not marred by a bevy of doping scandals.

Craziness is Mainstream these days

So Says Paul Krugman. And I have to agree with him. THis is evidenced by the proposition put forward by Dinesh D Souza that Obama's inspiration and vision for the US stems from a Luo tribesman who wanted to fight the yoke of Imperial Britain. Aggh! Reading that article made by head spin - it is a classic case of poor hypothesis development, analysis of facts and testing of hypothesis- because frankly there are no facts here. And the conjectures are ridiculous.

I guess Dinesh gets his inspiration from the early missionaries who arrived in India and converted a number of Hindu Indians. That explains why his mind is still in a medieval time trap.

Viva Opening Ceremony - But Poor Vision

The Opening ceremony was a knockout! Fantastic show - no doubt - every reason for India to be proud. I had goosebumps watching it on my laptop! Only disappointment was the theme song -nothing to remember or to takeaway. Sorry Rahman - this time you didnt strike a chord, but that's okay.

One question I cant seem to get an answer for- who choreographed the evening? I seem to have missed it.

Another point - ticket sales have been low and we dont have to look far for the reasons. Example I dont understand why a cricket match is being played at the same time as the CWG - in INDIA!! In the labyrinthian world of Indian cricket, sports and politics, couldnt somebody have actually planned the games in such a way that all other sporting activities are scheduled around the CWG for 2 weeks? It's not often that India gets to organize something on this scale - and when it does, can't the Cricket Board make some changes? The dates for the CWG were known 6 years ago - not last year! The planning lacked vision.

A Farcical Runup to the Games

I am embarrassed as a person of Indian origin to read about the preparation for the Commonwealth Games. I am embarrassed beyond words and dont know where to hide when I read the Wall Street Journal frontpage story about the sorry state of the facilities. I am also angry that we have allowed the games to descend into this - a case of missed deadlines, budget overrun by billions of dollars and shoddy infrastructure. I am incensed by the response of the politicians like Lalit Bhanot and Sheila Dixit - "Please try to understand ... They want certain standards of hygiene, they want certain standards of cleanliness, which may differ from my standard," said Lalit Bhanot, spokesman of the Delhi organising committee.

They want certain standards of hygiene and we are different!! My foot - Mr Bhanot - how would you like if you had to stay in a place where the beds were not clean - and the walls are painted with paan spit and human and dog "tatti" be in the bathroom? You should be sacked Mr Bhanot for your low standards of hygiene! And Sheila Dixit says security is not her concern - well Ms Dixit when the Games are being held in Delhi - SECURITY SHOULD BE YOUR CONCERN!

During the Beijing Olympics, most venues were ready a year before the event. And everything was ready at least six months before the event. These CWG are going to be worse than the Greek Olympics!

I wish and hope people are held accountable after the Games are over - for the corruption, for the delays for the budget overruns and for the embarrasment this is causing the country. If no heads roll then that means we as a nation are lost. After all it is the taxpayers who are paying for the games!

The run up to the games also suggest that in spite of great talent, our ability to organize and manage is still a sorely lacking capability. Why?

Jobless recovery

Rush Limbaugh said yesterday that he had never heard of that before - I wonder if he's ever heard of less than full employment or equilibrium without full employment. And I wonder even if he's ever heard those terms whether he understands them!



Yesterday's news wasnt great - jobless filings increased then the previous time period. So is jobless recovery possible? Yes - for sometime - when we start getting rid of inventories, and start using excess capacity without additional investment. Yes when we start becoming more efficient with current capital. When output starts increasing in some sectors but unemployment doesnt get impacted. There is always a lagged effect on unemployment and this will be expected.

Here are some indicators - housing starts increased slightly in Feb rel to Jan (1.6%) to (1.1%); US total business sales was up by 0.3%; retail and food services sales went up as did wholesale business. Needless to say the US trade deficit went up a bit indicating that the US is importing more than exports.



What does all this mean? That not only is the gap between actual output and potential output closing, but that the US may actually be having a slightly steeper potential output curve now.

The winter hath passed

Winter came and I went to sleep - when I woke up I found that tea party activists were overwrought, that Scott Brown could not prevent the health care legislation from passing and that the WSJ was even more radical than it was the year before. The stock of the President of the US is up as is the DJIA and other indexes. The economy is moving along slowly without creating jobs and the Yankees had won - no that I cannot digest.

Will this be a summer of discontent? Which summer is not in some fashion or the other? Let's see - many things are happening - Afghanistan, Poland, China, the World Cup (this will be Messi's year for sure), IPL in India, an Indo-Pak marriage and Gordon Brown may not remain PM until December 2010.