Saturday, November 20, 2010

We have found the enemy. It is us!

I was looking at the list of states in USA which have the highest economic growth. It is astonishing to see states with GDP growth less than 1 percent, dominating this list. Compare this with the 9 percent GDP growth rate in India! How can we count on the ‘fast growing’ economies of Oklahoma and Wyoming to save us? What has happened to the economic powerhouses like California, New York and Texas? I have become extremely pessimistic about the future of this country. As the Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke says, it requires massive spending by the government to get the country out of the current slump. However with the Republicans back in control in Congress, opposing any increase of government spending in the guise of deficit control, I do not see anything good happening to this country for a long time. The dumb electorate of this country, who elected George W. Bush twice as their President, is to be blamed giving control back to Republicans completely forgetting that it is their policies which caused the disaster in the first place. I am disgusted.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Vulgarity of the rich

According to Forbes magazine India has the second largest number of billionaires in the world (forty plus). However, charity is not considered a virtue in India, and most of the rich there do not bother with it (this is in sharp contrast to USA, where philanthropy is much admired). Two recent news items highlight this selfish attitude of the rich in India. First, there is the story of the house billionaire Anil Ambani has built for himself costing around one billion dollars. This building, 27 stories high with two helicopter pads and a staff of 600 employees for upkeep, stands as a sharp contrast to the slum dwellings nearby. Wonder if an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the owner of the most expensive house in the world, was an incentive for this. The other is Ratan Tata’s donation of 50 million dollars to Harvard University to establish a school and building in his name. Harvard University has one of the richest endowment funds in the world. Millions of children in India are still uneducated and struggling to get a seat in the under-capacitated Indian education system. Obviously being remembered at Harvard was more important to him. I am disappointed.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Life is not fair!

I was watching tonight the results of the mid-term elections in USA. Republicans have won enough seats (nearly 60) from the Democrats, to regain control of the House. This means that the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will no longer be the speaker when the new Congress convenes in January. However, the Democrats have managed to hold on to their majority in the Senate, with the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid winning a close re-election in Nevada.

Come to think of it, under Nancy Pelosi we had one of the most productive House ever in US history. In a short span of 21 months , it passed over 200 bills, many historic like health care and the new financial regulations. The bills they passed were strong and clear with the interest of the common people in mind. However, those bills either got stuck in the Senate without passing, or were watered down significantly before passing. This happened despite the Democrats holding an absolute majority in the Senate. The wimpy looking Senator Leader Reid never had full control of his senators who threatened not to vote unless special concessions were made to them. The machinations the Senate went through in the passing the health care bill created disgust about Washington politics in the minds of the people. The approval rating of the Congress gradually plunged to low teens. This was the primary cause of the debacle of Democrats in this election. But guess who lost her job for it? Poor Nancy Pelosi. Mr. Reid is going to continue as the Majority Leader of the Senate.

Yes, life is not fair.