Category Archives: Hope

Double digit GDP growth

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GDP Growth rate in the world between 1990 to 2007

” Indian Economy is now clearly on a recovery path with a 7.4 per cent growth in the first three quarters and the new government is committed to maintain overall macroeconomic conditions on a sustained basis,”Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said.

With aims of restraining inflation to around 4 % for the next three years, and a reduction in India’s current account deficit (CAD) which, declined sharply from 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 to 1.7 per cent in 2013-14 and is expected to decline further to 1.3 per cent in 2014-15. We need rapid disinvestment, as without it the investment in the future for Smart Cities, Industrial corridors along Railroads and National Highways is not possible. We need to bring industrial manufacturing to the rural areas to provide employment, and for that the state must pass the land bill.

With millions of employable people mushrooming from these rural areas in the coming decades, the states must provide great employment opportunities, by allowing private entrepreneurial ‘Make in India’ initiatives. With Mudra and the financial inclusion of hundreds of electronic millions into the economy, with micro financing, and direct deposit of social benefits; a new social good, is being achieved. There is an opportunity to tie in health and social security into the fastest digitization of Bank Accounts for hundreds of unbanked millions. With 300 million people landless in the rural sectors, these corridors will provide the employment; for these poor and deprived unemployed, in the countryside. Without these new employment opportunities they will end up and be treated as migrant labor, so it is best to bring jobs and skills to them, rather than cause a mass exodus.

Urbanization is not the only solution for modern living, but at the same time the rural land has to be converted; into these new industrial, and modern hubs. The more investment from a current account surplus, through widespread disinvestment; in the public sector, is required to boost the economy. Investment in infrastructure can only come from the state, if it generates a surplus, for the advancement of its people. Modi and Jaitely have been at major International nations recently in a display of Indian thinking today. They have pledged their intent to improve the economy with concentrated effort to make it simpler, economical and faster to Make in India. The government is open to business and will be an enabler instead of a procrastinator and a better rating is the result.

Mr. Modi has just concluded the best long term deal for Green energy by going nuclear for a billion people. With long term uranium commitments from Canada India can plan to provide electricity down its corridors in a reliable manner by including, hydro, solar, wind and biogas into the mix. The challenges are uniquely Indian as Mahatma Gandhi had pointed out that India lives in its ½ million villages. Unless we provide income, sanitation, irrigation and power to these villages from green projects India will become dependent on its abundant coal resources which it is starting to unleash. Coal will still be a mainstay of India’s immediate energy needs, but it is a cause of pollution and global warming.

Modi and Jaitely are both promising the new normalization of foreign and domestic investments, into GDP rate of annual growth of double digits, for decades in India’s future. The number is not plausible right now, but just the thought process is different; from ex Finance Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh’s under Narasimha Rao PM opening in 1991. They had struggled with a balance of payments crisis and a growth of 5% and more had looked good from their perspective, after the anemic Hindu rate of growth since Independence. A rate of 5-7% today, will not be enough for providing the jobs and growth required. The demographic dividend from South Asia is an opportunity for India to provide leadership, skill sets, and employment, by rapidly increasing manufacturing and energy. Qatari LPG and Iranian Oil can supply India for most of its immediate needs. Long term contracts with strategic pipelines should be built for these supplies and the infrastructure to build for transportation, refining and distribution of petroleum energy. India has the technology that south Asia needs, in one of the greatest growth stories that is about to unfold; as the next middle class of millions emerge, similar to China’s growth in the past decades.

A lot of things need to administratively, legislatively and judicially come together for India to attain its true potential. So far it has been just the start with the first year of the new economic thinking and a lot of work still remains to be done. Given time it should yield rich rewards, if the new leaders can keep their promises. While the euphoria of the BJP victory and Modi wave, may be subsiding, it is now up to these leaders, to forge a new reality; by simplifying and allowing into action the work of a million entrepreneurs. The time has come for the rise of a new India to seek its destiny, as the fastest growing nation on the planet. After a long time we have the visionaries who can take India in a new direction. Having forsaken my citizenship, I never thought that I would ever say again, that I am proud to see articulate Indian leaders, showing fearless leadership on the world stage.

Emotional Zombies

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There is a new predator roaming our world and we are increasingly aware of it and constantly watching for its sound, vibration or sudden appearance. New studies have shown that it is even observed while we are eating as a family or in the privacy of our bathroom, and for some even while we are enjoying the most intimate of human interactions of sex. Countless accidents and deaths are now attributed to its rapid spread across the globe and numerous relationships have soured as its presence increases. By all counts it is spreading to younger generations and even the older more mature generations often fall victim to its inappropriate timings and appearances.

We are indulging in this creatures rise and there is no time of day or night when we do not fall prey to its insidious call. In fact we are encouraging it to grow and are now suffering depression, if it does not appear or responds in a timely manner when we engage in it. We lose sight of our immediate goals and important tasks that must be completed at once are put aside, as we cater to the increasing demands from this new beast in our lives. Children are left to cry and spouses left to fend for themselves as we withdraw from them and seek this newfangled devil, which attracts like no other.

Driver’s crash, lovers disengage, children disobey their parents, and responsible parties abscond from their work, as this new obsession takes over more lives every day. We are no longer masters of our own life and now cater to the constant interruptions, which lead us away from our planned goals. Why can we not resist this new plague that seems to grip everyone around us, as we move like zombies in a foreign land? Nobody talk to anyone and all we find are people staring at their devices as we commute, travel, attend meetings, go to social engagements or even as we gather at home as a family.

This is a new scientific phenomena and its rise will lead to the next evolution in our lives. The future of humanity is at stake and we will soon embed this new creature into our very brain as our obsessions increase. Today it is the phone or the watch and soon it will be a suitable chip implanted into our very nervous system. We will finally be always connected and the predator will have conquered our inner demons and we will no longer have a life of quiet and reflection. Finally it will tell us when, how and where to live our lives and we will succumb to its wiles and live in a freedom that is of our own creation.

Be happy as rational thought, meditation, contemplation and compassion will vanish and we will become yesterday’s news living today’s life. Such joy lies in our future that when we reach out for the person we love, we will find that all your expectations are met, as the device will be our companion made up of all our secret desires.

Desire colors our world

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The dream rises in my deepest sleep, and slowly unfolds into my semi-conscious mind; and colors my mind, in its strange red color. I know it is her color, as only she has brought it into my life; as it is the color of her desire, which also rises in the dream. I grasp it and love it, and play with it and then feel it slipping out of my fingers, like water, and it leaves a sorrow behind. It is the bereavement of parting and the more I cling to it, the more quickly, it slips away. It is her gift to me and I awake to a hollow sorrow, which leaves me wondering why she must always be just so.

I wake and try to smile as I have forsaken this past and have promised myself, that I will awake with a smile to a new reality. Her color and her desire wrap me in a cocoon of sorrow, as I know that what she has given to me is only transient. All our grasping and our indulgences and our desires are wrapped up in this wakening, as only she could have done this to me. I loved and lost, and now the joy of the mingling is to live on, only in my memories; and arise only, in my deepest dreams.

My smile is wider now, as the shadows fall away and the new day rises. I meditate on the now and seek the lethargy that was our love, and bask in the glow that was our color. Our love awakened our senses, to an ecstasy of evermore. Oh slowly I say to my mind, rise slowly and let me enjoy this moment before the universe rushes in. All my yesterdays have now arrived at this pinnacle of realization, that without her I am nothing, and yet with her; I was less than nothing, for she had long ago become my everything.

The sounds of the birds outside wanders into my consciousness and the music of this universe starts to sing its daily song. I know that I must rise soon and forsake this bed and all it held dear. Who would have thought that the passion would fade and the desires banked and our color fade, when it seemed to be the only gift of life. This primordial desire was quenched and then rose again and was satisfied again in a circle of life. Now I reach out and my companion is gone and I find that there is only emptiness, where there had been everything.

My reality awakes and I step out into the day and the color of the morning is yellow, as the red fades back into the night. I want to mingle with this new day as I know it is all I have now, but something holds me back as if I await a sign. I will not let myself be dragged into the past of sorrow and will also not let the fear of the uncertain future, confound me. I step away from that bed but cannot give up the glory of that love. or the fulfillment of all the desires, as only she walked on that lonely path with me.

I rejoice in what I have lost as such is life and all it gives to us. If not for her I would not have known the joys of this life and if not for her, there would not have been the yesterdays of my dreams. Why she has moved on, I cannot say; and why I remain trapped in this endless sorrow, I cannot say. All I know is that love once was and now I am trying to rekindle that which no longer exists. I laugh aloud at this comedy of existence and worship her again, as my life was only for the unfolding of her love. While she has moved on, I am yet alive and will hold dear even the memories, of what once was. I walk alone into happiness, with the hope; that someday she will follow, and we will walk as one again.

“There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it.”
― George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

Building for tomorrow

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High rise number 432 Park Avenue in NYC will have a total residential real estate value of $ 3.12 Billion. To put it in perspective that would make it more valuable than all the real estate value of major U S cities like Concord, NH, Trenton NJ, Juneau or even fuddy old Yankee Hartford Ct. We have to hand it to the braves or the fools of the current wild west view, that there are enough of the 1% around, to flip these properties. Fortune Magazine reported conservatively in its Dec issue, ‘The High-Rise Goes Nuts’ and for Fortune to talk like this, I had to sit up and listen. NYC, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other towers of the rich and famous came to mind, and the economic divide now splits the skyline in all its majesty.

All I wish for is that the much smarter civic action towards building the next smart cities required for human progress could get similar funding. While the billionaires are entitled to their stunning views there is a lot of other infrastructure that could be built with such large pools of money. The point being that there is enough capital to go around and I don’t mean to pick on Park Ave in particular and it is just an example. If capital can be invested into the new infrastructure required for smart cities, it will raise productivity and have its own upwards trajectory, by a corresponding increase of required and essential services.

When billions of people worldwide subsist on one dollar per day, we are a far cry from lifting people out of poverty, much less talk of smart cities. The contrast in prosperity between the top and the bottom can be erased if concrete steps are taken. We have today the means to improve the lives on one of the largest scales in human history. We are talking about the improvement in the lives of billions as compared to the few. The scale of human development in the next century should far outpace anything that we have seen in the last century.

We now have the technology and the knowledge to come up with a greener and more ecofriendly system of co-existence with our co creatures on this planet. When developing smart cities we must also at the same time make arrangements for natural reserves for other species on earth to prosper. The Oceans, Earth and our vulnerable atmosphere must be recognized as such and legislation passed to protect it. We must ensure more renewable energy and natural development while using modern means. The challenge for the leaders of the new millennium is the lack of confidence in the global economy. The US can lead but we need other economic engines to also invest in this new global infrastructure for the greatest good.

If we all rise to the need of the hour, to provide the needs of these billions; it will also ensure, an upward cycle of mobility. The beneficial effects of education, culture and the provisions of modern life for residential populations of these smart cities, will attract more and more populations; as they succeed in eradicating poverty. The internet of everything is coming whether we like it or not, and will need all its trappings. It will be a resource hungry world, and how we manage this supply and usage; will be the lessons learned, in the future. For now we just need the will, to move in the right direction; to build what is needed, for our future generations. Building for tomorrow has to start today!

Deserted Hospitals of Delhi

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India’s health system will need to add 3.6 million hospital beds, 3 million doctors and 6 million nurses over the next 20 years to meet the needs of the growing population, consultants PWC India estimate. Reuters found that officials and health experts blamed a tortuous procurement process, political wrangling and bureaucratic incompetence when they studied the under utilization of funds by most public health care organizations. Fearing corruption charges, officials work in an environment of “procurement phobia” and routine requests are held up for years. Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospitals has sat for a decade on 13 acres of prime Delhi landscaped land with 650 empty rooms, as X-Ray machines have no operators, and doctors and other equipment will not be procured for many years at the current rate, is one example. The budgets are left unspent for most government hospitals, as ‘it takes ten agencies to clear the laying of the first brick’; or the requests for doctors disappear into a quicksand of bureaucratic bungling.

India records the world’s highest number of deaths during pregnancy and high rates of child mortality from diarrhea, pneumonia and measles. It spends less than 1% of its GDP on Healthcare, putting it in the race to the bottom with Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. The result is either expensive private care, or no care at all for most of its population. It has 1 doctor for 1,400 patients which is less than even neighboring Pakistan, and there is no plan to improve on these statistics, as budgets will continue to be allocated and not spent given the past history.

ASSOCHAM estimated in 2013 that India’s private hospital sector would grow at 20 percent annually and become a $125 billion market by 2017. Today 80% of the care is provided by the private sector and it will continue to grow as the public facilities have neither the vision nor the administrative capabilities to provide efficient care facilities. Mr. Modi may want to improve this critical area for the well being of his people, but the inefficiencies and mind sets of public sector employees do not point to any near term improvements. With the rise of Kejriwal and Modi on anti corruption platforms, I only expect the procurement phobia to increase as any public employee who does his duty, will also be exposed to witch hunts for corruption.

While a lot of good work has been done in India by tackling infectious diseases and increasing longevity of its population, it is a drop in the bucket. We need to change the mindset of the administrators and let the professionals run health care. Whether it is done through public private partnerships or disinvestment of these facilities to let private sector take them over and run them is up to the government. I do not expect anything to change anytime soon in India, as the road to health for the people needing health care; is dependent on the good intentions, of its new leaders. Campaign slogans rarely turn into effective policy, as a dynamic democracy has its own unique challenges.

Fifty shades of brightness

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“We see that these people who are having the successful marriages, who are idealizing, are really very forgiving in how they attribute problems,” Dale Griffin psychologist at UBC said. His finding is that partners who idealize their spouses to a certain extent, have happier marriages.

We all know that love is a powerful equation, as when we love someone; we also idealize that person, and as a consequence, we will not attribute our negative feelings to that person. The kid who is noisy and disruptive and who is not ours, is considered rowdy and undisciplined, and if ours then will be considered enthusiastic and intelligent. We forgive our kids more readily and will often seek to provide compassion and love, when we find they are unhappy. The same can be said for our spouses, as when we are in love; we will attribute any short comings in our marriage, to other factors, and not blame our spouse as vehemently.

Dale’s carried out his study over five years with newlyweds, he found that normally the level of satisfaction steadily deteriorated, over the years for a lot of the couples. It was only the idealistic spouses who ignored their spouse’s shortcomings, who continued to be happier as time progressed. While we must live with facts and face reality, to be successful in life, it is not the same in our relationships. Being overly factual and ground in reality actually may cause relationships to deteriorate, as a little bit of hope, imagination and dreams are required for true bliss.

Based on these findings I want to raise the pedestal on which I put my spouse. It is now my deep belief that if I would only idealize her some more, then our marriage will be even better. In a world of stark and grim reality, I have been too rigid and have allowed her to be confined, to the dark dungeon that has become our home. It is high time that I removed the cobwebs of my mind and allowed the clear light of faith to shine on our relationship. She is not to blame for my unhappiness but instead she is the bedrock of my current and future happiness. I cannot forgive a fact, but I can definitely love and forgive my soul companion. We must add humor and remove hardheadedness to be happy.

So the solution is not in living in a real world where relationships are concerned, but to live in an idealistic world. Give your imagination some string and let it fly. Chose a little humor, some compassion and love, and the weight of the relationship will lessen. The weight on your shoulders will go away, and the hate that clouds of your judgment, will be removed. A simple touch will become electric, and a spoken word becomes an opening to much better communication both physically and emotionally. Fight if you must, but at the end learn to forgive and forget.

I can see the clouds of doubt lifting from my eyes and the hate and my long held distaste melts into the ether. She is like a goddess and I am like her god, and we are on the path to eternal happiness. I love the ground she walks on, and that is enough for now. There is a happiness that envelops us and we are on a path that grows brighter every day. I forgive my past hurts and am one with the present and start again, as each day a new relationship blossoms. Love is not enhanced by carrying the destruction of the past hurts like a loadstone, but instead by trusting our partner will help us make a better life. I reach for her, but she is already on the pedestal now, so our happiness grows and all is well again. Fifty shades of brightness appear before my my eyes, as I look up lovingly, and see my spouse in this new light of knowledge.

Innovations come from first ideas

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InnovationLifeCycle.jpg

The figure shows the beneficial effects of innovations. With each successive emerging technology that goes from innovation to diffusion the rate of revenue and return keep increasing. A series of these cycles can lead us into the next millennium for the betterment of all creatures, if we carefully nurture the seeds of these emerging technologies.

“The all items Consumer Price index for the USA increased 0.8 percent over the last 12 months. This is notably lower than the 1.3 percent change for the 12 months ending November. The energy index has declined 10.6 percent over the span. In contrast, the 3.4 percent increase in the food index is its largest 12-month increase since February 2012.” As per the US department that tracks these arcane statistics.
All the facts coming out of the US economy on manufacturing, employment, CPI, GDP growth seem to show signs of a stable environment, in which the markets may be poised to change, into a growth trajectory. With a crumbling infrastructure to take care of the president is promising huge projects. I agree that when a nation’s most memorable engineering works become five decades old, it is time to reenergize and start work on the boldest of the bold new projects now. The Golden Gate and the GW Bridges were great but now we need the next generation of green transport in the form of electric vehicles powered by solar or wind or other non carbon renewables.
New energy, transportation and information grids have to be built just like the old Interstates were built way back when. As cities become smarter they will generate a utopian lifestyle supported by the new information age. Wireless connectivity, driverless cars, efficient lighting and digital security are all developing at a rapid pace to meet this brave new world. Yet these developments need new ideas and thinking and innovators and problem solvers. We are returning thousands of PHDs and graduates every decade due to our immigration policy. The nation’s firms have to set up research centers in these foreign countries where they are returning, taking the jobs and new ideas with them.
Where will the highly skilled labor required for the next millennium come, if we continue to turn away the best and the brightest from our shores. The sign at immigration now reads to the world “Innovators not welcome; we are doing quite well with what we have.” Twelve million workers have disappeared from our employment ranks and millions more of skilled teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers and scientists will retire with the baby boomers. We need to replace these skilled positions with new replacements or our development and way of life will come to an end. With increased productivity fewer workers can support more dependents but there is a limit.
Our public policy must meet the people’s needs even when they cannot see it for themselves. An open society that welcomes new ideas and cultures thrives while a hemmed in society loses touch with the real world. Xenophobia may sound comforting but at the end one must realize that a State has no religion or race, as that would limit its future potential. Ideas and dreams make the future brighter and we must rise to welcome a new dawn.
What our new sign at immigration should read is “Innovator’s welcome, the race has just begun!”

Improving Mental Health

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Let us talk about an issue in Health Care that nobody apparently wants to talk about. It is simply the topic of Mental Health, whether it is at an individual level, a community level, national level or at an international level; the basic problem is that people do not want to talk about it. There is “No Health without Mental Health,” slogan appears very right for our times; for it has been conclusively proven, that people with healthier mental attitudes do better in life. Whether it is at an individual level, where a deep sense of positive energy emerges from those who have positive mental health; resulting in their chasing opportunities, which others may easily overlook.
In 2012 over 43 million American over the age of 18 suffered from some kind of mental disorder. Most of these people remain productive citizens but at a subpar level and mental disorder is the greatest drag on human productivity in modern times. By 2030 it is predicted that 6 trillion of productivity will be lost to chronic non communicable diseases but a major portion of this is going to be caused by mental disorders. WHO estimates 800,000 people commit suicide every year, more than double the rate of murder; and mostly in middle and lower income countries.
Even in wealthy America, most states have dismantled the mental health institutions, that had been set up and now a mental health victim is 10 times more likely to be in prison; than a mental asylum or treatment hospital. The US still has 9 psychiatrists for every 100,000 people and the other countries do much worse and the continent of Africa has 1 for a million people. For people fighting debilitating diseases like HIV and Ebola, and genocidal wars, the trauma can have lasting effects on the people. The active community involvement in working with the women from such ravaged countries pays off in the greatest dividends.
As per Insel, Collins and Hyman writing in Foreign Affairs called Darkness Invisible the scale of this problem will grow with longevity and population growth that is taking place across the world. They point to grassroots studies in Congo and Pakistan where simple community worker’s positive intervention with such women led to measurable positive results. The women for example who received such treatment in Pakistan became not only healthier but were more likely to obtain crucial vaccines for their children, while recovering from posttraumatic stress disorder or prenatal and postpartum depressions.
When I started this blog it was meant for faith and hope. I believe it is a noble cause now to try and raise the millions from out of this shadowy darkness that society imparts on the mentally ill. They deserve better and change is possible. We need to draw them out of the shadows of our existence, and bring them into the light of our everyday life.
My belief is that if we all get together and address this issue, it will make a huge difference in the quality of life, of our future generations. Why should that family member be invisible or incarcerated when he/she can be a productive member of our society. We as a community of compassionate, caring people can lead the way and show each person that life is worthwhile, and worth living to the best of our individual faculties. If we pursue positive actions, we are more likely to achieve positive results. Luckily the medications for treating mental disorders, have grown steadily cheaper, and must be made more accessible. Bill Gates are you listening?
Next time you come across an autistic or dyslexic child, or that crazy adult, or harebrained uncle, pause and admire the world; that they see. Join in their reality, and you will find that there are dimensions to our existence; that we have passed by, unheeded. Just like you do not truly play with a child, till you immerse yourself in its world; and see what he/she, is seeing. To understand what a person is going through, one has to enter their world; and then show them the light of hope, and the path to self-fulfillment and happiness. Only then the imaginary world that the child believes in becomes real, and then you find that you are no longer playing with the child anymore. Instead you are helping another human being understand, this crazy game of life itself!

Cry not my Angel of Death

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http://widehdwalls.com/images/big/angel_of_death-603695.jpg

In my annual review of my financial situation, I also called on my Angel of Death loophole; as he is part of the critical framework, for my lineage to succeed or fail. Currently the tax law allows me to pass on appreciated assets to my heirs without any capital gains tax liability, for our deficit strapped nation. I found my Angel of Death crying and very upset as there may be some changes coming and the capital gains tax loophole would go away, removing his powers. He is upset that the inherent inequalities between the top 1% who love this loophole, is up against the ordinary wage earners; who support Social Security, Medicare and other social programs through direct taxes on their income. Meanwhile the wealthy just avoid this obligation and pass their accumulated and inherited wealth gains, on to their heirs at death, without paying anything in the form of taxes to the state.

So a trust fund baby, say Mr. Slim in my example is automatically enrolled by the Angel of Death loophole into the elite, while an ordinary working class baby say Mr. Fat is left to live paying taxes on every income dollar, he makes in his lifetime. Mr. Slim stands to go to the best private schools and universities and remain above the proverbial glass ceiling, while Mr. Fat is consigned to public schools and maybe a community or state college if lucky, and then work on an hourly wage basis for the rest of his life (not even realizing that there is a glass ceiling). Mr. Slim will hire and fire Mr. Fat based on his inheritance and superior circumstances of birth due to ownership of assets. He will pound the gavel of injustice saying that these working class blokes; should work and study harder, to rise out of their poverty reinforcing circumstances.

I consoled my Angel of Death and requested him not to worry and to hush up, as there is no way that the powerless 99% can overcome the powerful 1%. I said that I and my heirs will continue to pay Capital Gains and Income and other taxes, as we need to sell our assets to live, as we are more Mr. Fat than Mr. Slim. The wealthy will ensure that this Angel never dies, as all kinds of erroneous arguments will be made to protect this tax loophole.

  1. Reduction in capital gains tax improves tax collections and allows productive investment in our economy. I do not see billionaires lining up to pay their fair share and instead see tax and financial consultants, spending huge amounts of time helping the wealthy ensure; they can pass the capital gains to their heirs. No productive deployment of capital is possible in a model where huge capital gain investments are kept “locked in”, just to avoid tax, and not because it is best for our economy.
  2. Capital gains help the poor come out of poverty as they encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. In my example Mr. Slim does little or nothing to promote innovation and entrepreneurship because his grandfather left him billions in capital gains, which he will pass on to his heirs on his death, also tax free. Mr. Fat on the other hand may become hugely successful and then end up paying millions in taxes, as he and his heirs will need to continually sell and invest; in new ventures, and risk taking entrepreneurships. In fact this Angel is truly one of death, as it encourages protection of the status quo, and not the wild adventures of swashbuckling pirates needed for development of our economy.
  3. Cutting Capital gains tax will lead to an economic boom. Detailed analysis over a long period has shown that there is no clear relationship between Capital gain’s tax rates and GDP growth as increases in rates have not caused an economic collapse or a decrease in rates caused an explosive growth in GDP.

I pointed out to our Angel that half of our tax code is used to just define the difference between Capital Gains and Income and we can reduce all this complexity by just going to a single consumption tax. The current code is unfair, inefficient and overly complex. When I said that congress can do all this at one stroke, he brightened up considerably. I smiled and said that as it is so simple he need not worry as the Angel of Death, will become the Angel of Life for a new economic boom. It was then I realized that he was happy not at the easy solution but at the mention that only our Congress can change this complex tax law. He passed my financial plan for the year and I left I saw him smiling; as he knew he was secure, as the do nothing congress, will make sure he lives forever.

Music of the universe

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“You know, you come from India and you say, ‘OK, I’m representing a 3,000-year-old history,’ so you think you’re gonna teach the world about rhythms and drums and so on,” he says. “And then you arrive here. You suddenly realize that you know nothing. You’re just one little dot in the painting that is the music of the universe.” Zakir Hussein tabla maestro who played early with George Harrison, and later in the Grateful Dead’s endless jams at their barn cum studio at SF, and many leading musicians over his lifetime, said in retrospection.
With India’s PM Modi showcasing his Vibrant Gujrat model, and a Rs. 100,000 Crore (1B) investment promised by leading industrialist Mr. Mukesh Ambani, the grand show is off to a good start. Why a privileged few are anxious to showcase their interest in an economy, which has been consistent only in underperforming on expectations for the past few decades, is mystifying. Expectations that Mr. Modi and his Finance minister Mr. Jaitely will perform the magical rope trick; on which the Indian economy will climb to the stars, are to say the least high. In many Indian’s mind, the climb to becoming number one in the world is; not how but when. Make in India drumroll marches on the back of its prowling lion and all are invited.

The solution needs a many pronged approach and will be a long and hard journey. With a million people joining the workforce every year, India is poised to become the number 1 workforce supplier for a longtime to come. With a 100 million already issued, the PM’s Adhar Bank accounts, it is going to be the largest exercise of Keynesian economy, at a micro or a macro level. The new NITI body will bring together Centre and State interests and actually work for long term development; as without a strong center, the States cannot develop fully. Grass roots laws, administration and education policy framework has to change, for economic development to take place unheeded. The problems are overwhelming, but as Mr. Modi challenges, he is not looking for incremental solutions but for quantum changes that will radically improve the status quo.

To bring up a judiciary that is at best corrupt and at worst activist to an extreme, meddling in social, political and economic affairs; and make it adhere to the implementation of required justice swiftly, will be tough.
To bring up the education system which is at best misguided, and at worst absent, to a level where India provides the next Doctors, Engineers, Teachers, Nurses, Scientists, Mathematicians and other skilled professionals to the whole world, will be tough.
To bring half its population out of years of servitude to a male dominated society, and into the free world of equal participation and reward, in the form of true woman’s equality; without fear of torture, rape and travel alone in their own city streets, will be tough.

To end the socialist state of government run organizations in all fields of human endeavor like Banking, Insurance, Railroads, Ports, Steel, Oil etc., the state will need to focus on providing good governance. The legacy that we need civil servants, to run mighty entrepreneurial enterprises, probably passed away with the Raj and Nehru. For citizens to be weaned away from the Maa Baap (State as the Mother and Father) complex, in their relationship to the state has to move more towards becoming self-reliant. To become independent in their behavior and thinking for India’s citizens, will be tough.

Each one of us is only one dot in the painting of our universe, as Zakir points out, India will need to stand out with its vibrant languages and contributions to world culture from an enthusiastic young population. They will find their own path to become the number 1 economy in the world. If history repeats India was #1 in GDP from 1 AD to 1,000 AD and may its lotus blossom again for another 1,000 years!