This article was first published
in the business section of www.rediff.com on July 21, 2014; Co-Author: Khemchand H. Sakaldeepi
In the first article in the series of understanding how
the economic machinery works, we introduced transactions, credit, interest
rates and inflation. In the second article, we dealt with the importance of credit
and introduced deleveraging. In the third part we delved into the impact of
deleveraging and introduced fiscal deficit and quantitative easing.
This concluding part will weave all the different
parts of the economic machinery together to help the readers take a view on the
current economic scenario in India with a new perspective.
The case of India is very different from any other
country in the world. We once controlled 25% of world GDP but today we are far
from there. The major issues that we face today are:
· Lack in the sense of building consensus to take
any important and sometimes difficult decisions due to our democratic form of
government
· High inequality when it comes to wealth
distribution
· Lack of interest in becoming more productive,
generally. Socialist measures and freebies are good only in the short run as
they act as a tonic to the pain for people in lower income strata. But we
really need to become productive in the long run so that everyone gets what
they deserve. This calls for a shift in the morale and thinking in our country
as a whole.
Come to think of it, whatever the ideologies of our
leader are, the end result should be nothing more than well being of our fellow
citizens. Health, wealth and wisdom must be easy to pursue in our country.
In fact we believe that economic progress is the
answer to our disputes with China, Pakistan and also important to taken
seriously by other nations. Internal problems like naxalism can also be fought
with economic powers.
Even ancient wisdom suggests that economic progress
is the key to power and economics is the mother of all human knowledge.
In economics there is a concept called Nash
equilibrium. If we all fellow citizens were to follow our culture and wisdom
from our texts then this will make us work optimally as we will do best for
ourselves but also best for the group (country) hence reaching equilibrium
which is the right place we deserve.
Dharma as per Bhagvad Gita has 5 parts:
Gyan – Pursuits of knowledge of self
and skills required to earn a living
Samarpan – Dedication to one’s cause,
that is, doing what one is required to efficiently and to the best of one’s
abilities
Nyay – Have justice behind every action
and decision one makes.
Prem – Compassions towards everything
in this universe.
Dhairya – This comes from strengthening
our sense of right and wrong such that one can withstand any randomness,
entropy, risk etc. either from inside or from outside.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb speaks at length about these
attributes in his recent book “Antifragile”.
The books of economics speak about rules that one
needs to follow to become economically smart but our ancient wisdom speaks
about principles. So if we were to live by these principles, then the nuts and
bolts would automatically fit. We shall show the world new rules of economics
just by our actions that emanate from such principles. Yet again.
So we end this piece asking a few questions to
ponder over:
- Isn’t it true that if something has lasted for centuries will continue to do so when compared to new books of thoughts?
- Isn’t it true that our philosophy is simple and can be followed by anyone
- Why don’t we dare to think like Indians and not be afraid to be different from the world?
- Why can’t we challenge the status quo and also show light to the world.
It is high time we regain our identity and work
towards our nation’s prosperity. Some may call it Ram Rajya, or some may call
it Incredible India. The point is, we have to just THINK like Indians.
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