Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Inflation anyone...?

Last year, there was a lot of ho-hulla about rising inflation.

the bjp & their followers went overboard with joy & gave soundbyte after soundbyte to the media.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram & Montek Singh Ahluwalia all quietly said that this was a temporary phenomenon, affected by inflated oil prices; and that it would come down shortly.

A downtrend has been in place almost since the day they said this. I can't hear even one voice praising this! I think it makes sense for me to at least applaud the bjp (& it's supporters') hypocrisy. They're making such an effort, being so consistent... Great show guys! Keep it up!

Dr. Singh, Mr. Chidambaram, Mr. Ahluwalia... Congratulations! You're doing a fine job sirs!

One question remains though... why despite inflation being so low are the prices of fruit & veggies still so high???
Or worse, why aren't real estate prices being lowered by the developers?
More on that in a separate post!

7 comments:

  1. You are right! And we need such posts.

    I have noticed MM Singh works, he does not make noise.

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  2. anybody who knows the basics of economics can tell u high growth rates for a few yrs and rapid price rise of smthing like oil WILL always bring inflation, and this WILL always be temporary and cyclical. Fruits and veggies are not down yet mainly because people are greedy, n while they increase prices when costs rise, they are way more reluctant to bring them down as margins increase with lower costs. And also because we still wait for petrol diesel cuts, and realty to get a reality check. :)

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  3. 1con, the price of crude oil has come down 70% from the highs last year. So have worldwide prices of all other commodities declined. The unfolding economic crisis has meant a strengthening of the USD against most major currencies, 20% against the INR. Singh and company have just been lucky i guess. Nothing to commend them here. Think about the lost opportunities in five decades of Congress rule. Although the BJP is in no way better when it comes to implementing ecnomic progress-oriented policies.

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  4. Sagarone,

    I'm sorry I'll have to strongly disagree.

    1. So when global prices, & therefore inflation, went up, Singh & Co. weren't just plain unlucky?
    2. How long have Singh & Co. been lucky? 5 years as FM & 4 as PM? 9 years of sheer luck? Bloody lucky PM for us then yaar!!! No?
    3. Why should I think about the apparent loss of 5 decades, when I can be upbeat about the last 9 years?

    I'm sorry, but I agree totally with phoenix!

    And IHM!

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  5. PS: About the bjp, I still can't get over their swadeshi rant from when Singh was FM!!! I'm still laughing at that!

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  6. With liberalization, as the Indian economy opens up, it will be more and more prone to be effected by global trends. We are yet a quite closed economy and have escaped the worst of the worldwide recession.

    As regards to Singh and Company, I have to credit them with finally coming to terms with the fact that the economic policies of their own party predecessors were plain wrong and bad for India, although they might not say so in so many words. My other gripe is that this M company is not answerable to the Indian people but to the head of a political dynasty.

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  7. Sagarone,

    1. Yes. And despite the opening up of India economy (it's been open now for what about 15 years?), we've still managed to survive the global recession! Isn't that commendable??? And isn't there a point in the moderate approach to opening up India's economy... capitalist yet socialist? Isn't the middle path always better?
    Shouldn't we therefore applaud our economic leadership for providing us with the benefits of an open economy & the security of a regulated one? And I'm not quoting Chidambaram or the Left here! Obama too spoke of regulation in his inaugral speech!!

    2. Singh & Co. never finally came to terms with anything. Singh was an economist throughout his life & career. He was picked for the job because of his ability to do what hadn't been done before!!!
    I've debated earlier with someone very naive, on the fact that the economic policies of a nascent India were bad. I'm sure you're far from naive!

    Your last statement is worrisome. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that the country's vital economic decisions are being taken by Sonia??? So Montek, Chidambaram & Dr. Singh aren't really the brains behind the growth we've seen? We have Sonia to thank for all of that???
    Is that what it means?

    A friend of mine yesterday was saying the same thing to me. The discussion then moved to Obama. He then suggested that India's populace will not know who India's Prez is. I was outside a restaurant. I walked up to 3 different people & asked them if they could give me the name of the Indian Prez. They ALL did!!!

    What is my point?

    Simple: My point is that I test every claim on the filter of truth. The mini-interview could've gone against me, but at least I would've learnt the truth.
    I told my friend never to go by political propaganda or hearsay. To find out for himself.

    I humbly request you to do the same please.

    Warm Regards.

    ReplyDelete

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