So basically, governments across the world are injecting money into their economies and lowering interest rates to counter the current economic slowdown. I figure lowering interest rates lowers WACC and makes a lot of hitherto unprofitable projects, NPV positive which in turn help to drive economic growth. Lekin, but, parantu, they are only NPV positive when the expected return is seen as a premium on the risk-free rate which is not inflation adjusted. The government is also 'injecting money' (god knows into what), but that is obviously going to increase inflation, no? So in real terms, there may be no incentive to start new projects, depending on how much inflation rises, right? This whole macroeconomic situation is evidently beyond my grasp. Saala people want to work, they want to trade, but somehow, still the economy is forced to slow down and come to a stand-still. What is the opposing force that is causing all this? The fact that people are not getting the right price for their goods/services is not because demand has deteriorated across the board. It is only because demand was articially inflated for certain goods/services (bubbles - mortgages, interwebs), is now suffering a correction and prices of other googs/services (parapraxis?) dependent or related, are following them in their downfall. Many people acquired insane amounts of wealth during the bubbles and have exited with their cash. So the force driving the economy down is not that people have suddenly gotten lazy, it's that these sophisticated conmen (aka bastard-sons-of-bitches) won't let their wealth redistribute. This anti-redistributive force is what is driving the economy down. Large packets of wealth are stuck in their bank accounts. They sold people something that wasn't worth its price and got away with it. Nothing the governments do, other than forcing that wealth to go back to where it belongs, will ever stop the depression.
What can we do as individuals?
1. Startups - create employment, create wealth. Somebody, please. Of course this is only for those who have the nerve, the know-how, the will.
2. Charity - actively seek out those affected by the depression and share your wealth with them. (In fact I have been exercising Robin Hoodism myself, by stealing from the wealthy corporations and putting the money in my bank account.)
3. Forced Correction - stop buying houses you can't afford, stop clicking on stupid online ads for stuff you're not going to buy anyway, stop using so much gas - force the prices to bottom as quickly as possible. (This one I'm not sure about at all actually - I mean, shopping online does save gas right? And how do we know how much of a correction is enough?)
4. Stop revealing your ignorance on your blog and do some productive work.
The Yekkonaamic Crisis
Yahan arzoo aur geet
aur jawani bhi maine tere naam kiya...
Jaagegi... raat bhar aur bhaagegi saath par
kar daalegi belagaam khayalon ko
poochegi yeh sawal aur maangegi yeh hisaab
na sunegi tere in jawaabon ko
Dekhe yahan kayi
Mausam badalte hue
Dekhe jazbe kayi
Yahan patthar bante hue
Kayi waqt se pehle
Sabh aaj tu keh le
Sadkein thi sabh mere baap ki,
aur main tha... tu thi.. aur thi dilli bas.
Song: Dilli by Rabbi Shergill
Sabh taraf jo raat hai, yeh kabh soyegi
Raasta dikhega tabhi, jabh subha hoyegi
Hassi bhi andhere mein dikhti nahi theek se
Khushi bhi sunayi padegi subha ki hi cheekh se
Jaldi ugao na suraj, dhool ki chamak darr rahi hai
Chori ki chandni pee pee kar marr rahi hai
Atak gayi hai sui, jaise thak-haar gayi ho
Ussi mod par gumraah jaise baar baar hui ho
Ummeed mein baithoon ya chal doon andhere mein hi
Sabh kuch rok ke rakha hai iss jhoote savere ne hi
Tu woh ghazal hai jo mohabbat hai yakeen hai gumaan hai...
Dekhoon tujhe har aas mein
Chahoon tujhe har saans mein
Tu ibteda hai
Tu inteha hai
Mera khuda hai
Tu ajnabee hai
Tu ashna hai
Mera khuda hai
-Ali Azmat (Album: Klashinfolk, Song: Mera Khuda)
Know Thyself
In the controversy about whether artificial intelligence can ever be realized to the extent where it is even comparable with human intelligence, it is argued that the term artificial, requires the existence of formal system which governs its so called 'thought-process'. This in turn requires that the formal system either be inconsistent or be unaware of itself - which some argue makes it inferior to human intelligence, in the sense that credit of the intelligence goes to the maker and not the machine.
In this sense awareness of one's condition is somehow believed to elevate one's intelligence to a higher level inconceivable at one's current level. So, know thyself.
"Chakravyuh se bahar nikalne par,
main mukt ho jaaoon bhale hi,
phir bhi chakravyuh ki rachna mein,
fark hi na padega.
Soya hua aadmi,
jabh neend mein se uth kar,
chalna shuru karta hai,
tabh sapnon ka sansar,
usse dobara dikh hi na paayega.
Uss roshni mein,
jo nirnay ki roshni hai,
sabh kuch samaan hoga kya?
Ek palade mein napunsakta,
doosre palade mein paurush,
aur theek tarazu ke kaante par,
ardh-satya."
-Dilip Purushottam Chitre
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.