Reading has been a habit of mine. But if there is something I dont read regularly, its the stuff that scares people. I am not talking about horror books or movies. No, that stuff is passe’ (sometimes comic too). I am talking about (un)expected events of the future. Like the recurrence of Ice Age. Or extinction of the Lion. Or paying for air to breathe. Or the decay of the institution called marriage.

It was a lovely sunny morning here in Bangalore when my eyes fell on this. And they just didnt know where to look thereafter. They kept staring, not able to fully comprehend what the author had just said.

Its not like its not been said before. Its not like I didnt expect it to happen sometime. Its just that I didnt expect it to happen in my lifetime. Born and brought up in a family which still emphasizes very strongly on family values, even the thought of marriages becoming superficial and being based on only economic “needs” is quite scary. Yes, scarier than even death. Because marriages are what shape children and marriages are what made each and every one of us what we are today. And the end of marriage as an institution would mean the end of society as we know it.

The author says, and I quote:

Marriage encourages sloth, allows one person to live off the other and gives a parasite the legal right to live off the host.

He may be right in some sense. After all, traditionally women (and in some cases men too) have been entirely economically dependent on their spouse. And each have had their own responsibilities to take care of. So does that mean economic independence would automatically create situations which would no longer “require” a spouse? There’s got to be more to a marriage than just a “requirement”, right? There must be something additional on which billons of marriages have survived over thousands of years in the history of mankind.

The article made me think and do a bit of research. How is a marriage defined? What are its basic ingredients? And what constitutes a “minimum requirement” for a couple to be called “married”?

Wikipedia told me it has been defined and implemented differently by different societies at different times. But the singular feature which has stayed common over ages and tribes is the creation of affinal ties. And that my dear friends, was the answer I was looking for.

I am happy that the author is an economist and not a psychologist. I am happy that his idea was earlier rejected, and I hope it continues to be rejected. I rejoice because I found something to contradict him with. I am glad that I still believe in marriage just as much as I did earlier. I am glad, because Wikipedia exists.

Economics is defined here as:

The study of choice and decision-making in a world with limited resources

You would assume that anyone’s choices are based on rational factors and logical thinking. This article on Value Research Online, however, touches on some of the totally ignored aspects of Economics. The author, Mr Pandya, relates economics and money matters to family, family values, emotions, and back to economics. Isnt that unbelievable?

Of course, there has to be a balance between the “Economicus” and the “Sociolus”. Otherwise, there would be no economics in the first place. Its not all about emotions. And its not all about money and power. Its a bit, and ONLY a bit about both. Keep that in mind when you read this, and when you make your “logical” decisions.

Another day that made history. The BSE Sensex fell by more than 800 points today, a drop of more than 6.5%. What caused it?

-Rumours that FII incomes may be taxed.
-US CPI rates lower than expected
-Expected hike in interest rates in the US
-All Asian markets crashing
-Heavy selling by FIIs
-JP Morgan stating that the Indian markets needed a correction of around 4-5%
-Commodities crashing
-blah blah blah….

Bloodbath….mayhem…mayday….
Just some of the words used to describe this fall.

Relax…Think again. Its not so bad. Markets are still at 11300 levels. And considering current volumes and activity, it takes them not more than 10 days to gain a 1000 points. So which way are you headed? North or South? I recommend pick up stocks and wait for a few days more. 12000 levels should return soon. Until and unless the Fed really hikes rates, in which case we will definitely have more mayhem. And you will have to read another post like this one.

Read this Tale of Two Countries on Value Research Online.
It is about the two global economic giants(??) of the world, namely the US and Japan, and their contrasting paths adopted to achieve economic success, as we know it today.

Everyone knows US is the biggest debtor in the world today, and Japan is the biggest creditor. But this article tells us how this happened ever since the start of the century. And it also tells us about the biggest mistake committed by the Japanese economy by committing to maintain their central reserves in US$ rather than gold.

Today’s situation is such that every country’s central bank holds reserves in US$s rather than in gold, which is even today, the most internationally recognised form of currency. So effectively, if the US$ suddenly drops and the US economy collapses, it will take down every economy with it!!! The same problem is faced by the Japanese economy on a much larger magnitude, even though they should have been the greatest holder of gold reserves, had they chosen to maintain their reserves in gold.

Thus, even though the US is on the brink of collapse, (it is almost bankrupt), every other country will strive to make sure that it does not go down, lest its own economy completely collapses as well. To quote the author “By any metric, the US should have been bankrupt, if not insolvent.” However, it is the very fact that the world’s central banks maintain their reserves in US$ which makes them support the US economy. Both Japan and China have done this recently. Or atleast that is my understanding of the subject.

At the same time the author also draws an interesting conclusion about Japan’s economy. He reminds us that it is work itself which gives us pleasure, not money which is considered the reward for work. So maybe the Japanese have risen above economics and have realised that it is not money or monetary reserves which make people happy, rather it is the hardwork that earns that money which makes one happy. To have this understanding at the national level is an achievement in itself.

What really bothers me here is that India is trying to grow as an economy by adopting the methodology of the US, which does not sound very promising or fair. I guess some amount of balance has to be achieved at the macro economic level and such balance has to be enforced by the finance ministry and the central bank together. One advice to all my loved and dear ones, dont over use credit cards. Make sure you can always pay back whatever you spend on them within the credit period.