The Millenium Trilogy (Book Review)

It had been a long time since I had read fiction at any length having being busy with work and myriad such excuses. So when I had made up my mind that enough is enough, I went around, asked and looked for a good read. Given the history of my reading habits, I knew nothing short of great would get me interested. And then I found Stieg Larsson of The Millenium Trilogy fame and his lead protagonist Lisbeth Salander. At the very outset I will admit that I have been bowled over completely by the contemporary and adult storyline, that involves themes like hacking, espionage, secret service, sex, activist journalism, and a potpourri of themes without losing the actual thread of the story. Lisbeth Salander is one awe-inspiring woman, inherently moral and very much the sociopath in the everyday sense of the word. But she's much like John Nash, in that they share the common belief that if I can think, I can do pretty much everything. Remember that John Nash defeated schizophrenia by thinking and analyzing. Lisbeth Salander destroys the secret behind the all powerful sapo, the most clandestine of operations in the Swedish secret service. While some reviewers frown upon the use of violence by her as illegal, I like the fact that an individual is able to defend her own space when the system has not only ditched her, but also has systematically exploited her for its own needs and ends. Her individualism stands out almost in  an Ayn Rand way - remorseless and unrelenting. And it is probably the same when she bonds with people she likes and respects - complete and without inhibition. The other main character is that of Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist who lives to make that next expose that will bring down the most corrupt, whether it be humongous corporations or secret within sapo. He also lives to make love to strong women. And he does both with nuance and flair, treating them like the art that they really are. The book left me flipping pages as fast as I my eyes could travel and my brain could process. Besides the storyline of murder, mystery and intrigue, the book trio also paints such beautiful colors and bleak shades of gray of the Swedish people, culture and countryside, that by the end you feel that you know it all. And did I add that all topics are dealt in such detail so as to leave the layman spellbound and the connoisseur impressed. My recommendation: If you haven't read the trilogy, your should. Period.  I am also eagerly waiting the Hollywood version of the trilogy - hopefully they pick a good team and do justice.

Purchasing Power Parity

We have on varied and multiple occasions breathed long and vocal sighs when we hear the large dollar/pound/euro salaries and benefits that our very close and dear friends earn when they work in developed countries like USA, UK, Netherlands, Australia, etc (at least I do this purposefully on every occassion :)) What we tend to dismiss with the wave of our hand or the flick of our finger is their living expenses based on a certain minimum lifestyle in such countries. Obviously this applies to people who have stayed back for some duration like for say 4-5 years and not the other set of friends who were there on a short stay (how they behave is beyond of the scope of discussion in a blog post!) And this is where we should think of Purchasing Power Parity or more commonly known as PPP. PPP: In simple terms it is difference in cost of a Big Mac at McDonalds in your native country vs. in the foreign country you are comparing to. Or you could say it is the cost of a meal/ movie/ party/ car/ house/ etc. in the countries you are putting in the comparison bucket. Again always look at averages across items, and across geographical regions within each country. So the coffee your NRI friend buys for $4 you can very well buy for ₹25 here - its like saying that the value of $4 is the same as the value of ₹25. Are there any standard measures: Not really. Over the years various economists and organizations have tried to do something in this direction without much success or recognition. Although the Big Mac Index has some popularity in this matter - it was first popularized by The Economist. It essentially tracks the price of a Big Mac produced and sold across 120 countries that have a McDonald's outlet. Since this burger is a standardized product it is very loosely indicative of PPP or currency under/over valuation. Again, it is not a serious economic indicator, as in no country would probably base its economic policy on this. But it comes in handy when you want to write a post like this ! Why should I be bothered: Well, we probably wouldn't even use it in our day-to-day life unless you are economic policy advisor to the Government of India. But it helps to look at things in perspective, and realize errors in leading media articles like this on TOI today. I usually am wary of our media - half the time their content and the journalistic quality is such crap such that I cringe to pick up the morning newspaper. Some have gone so bad that their editorials come out as incoherent jingoistic babble in favor of the babus and netas. But this particular piece takes the cake pretty near the bottom. Aren't newspapers supposed to raise awareness about issues that people are concerned with ?? And not mislead the junta ?? Oh, by the way, my favorite newspaper is "Bangalore Mirror" - flawless and entertaining in their coverage of storm drains, petty theft, celebrity sightings, and your sex problems! What more can you ask for ??

Capitalism and Honest Living

Now that the old government has been elected anew and inducted into the Parliament, I am starting to think if all this is going to make a lot of difference to the state the people are in. I recently was talking to a farmer who incurred an electricity bill of more than Rs. 66000 and was asked to pay up under the threat of law taking its own course with dire consequences for him. This astronomical figure was the sum total of his electricity bill for the past 7 years or so. I was pretty surprised as to why this farmer hadn't paid his bill for such a long time, when I was sure that he had been doing well for himself pretty steadily all these years. On further digging more facts were revealed. He admitted he could have easily paid the bill all these years, but he was living on the hopes that a new government would take the typical socialist stand and just write off his bill amount under some new scheme and he would save some money. But as years passed, the government did nothing of the sort in his district. Although this same government floated lots of other dole out schemes. In the meanwhile his bill kept incurring additional interest, compounded. And this was the plight of fellow farmers in his village too. Seeing no way out, they visited some government officials and petitioned them with their plight. In the end, the district administration relented and waived off the interest amount on the bill. This farmer in the end ended up paying Rs. 40000 approx. While the people are not inherently lax in their duty and obligation towards their country, the false hopes that the government keeps giving them makes them want to take advantage of all available such options. One such welfare scheme floated by the government is the NREGA - National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme under which any person living in rural areas will get 100 days employment. Why is it just 100 days, why not the full 365 days ?? Is it because the government is aware that it cannot create jobs in enough quantity and is dispersing what it has to a larger multitude to keep them happy and garner more votes as it did this time around ?? Who will actually ask these rural people whether they are really satisfied with the scheme ?? Why only unskilled daily wages jobs for these people and why not skilled jobs too which are higher paying ?? On the other hand look at what capitalism does to the same category of daily wage workers. Every year millions of people migrate out of their poor villages towards the swanky towns and cities looking for a better place to work and live. The most visible example is that of the laborers in the real estate industry. I personally have worked with an NGO who teach the children of such unskilled workers. These guys toil very hard and put in a lot of physical work, that you and I won't be able to do without puking our guts out. After the initial coaxing they are very eager to send their children to schools, and that too private schools where they can interact with the teaching staff and be updated about their child's progress. One big factor for them also is that these children would typically be served a mid-day meal also. Their single aim seems to be see their child educated and with a more decent life than theirs. So why does the government school nearby not appeal to them - because it does not teach English. Its not as if they are richer than their rural cousins, but they realize that they stand a better chance at a more decent life if they work hard and not support themselves on government dole. There are questions and then there are questions ?? Lots of cynics would say that its easy to raise questions. I disagree. It might be easy to raise questions. But it is difficult to do so in a sustained and coherent manner.

April Fool's Joke

My Dear Fellow Salaried Friends and Other Honest Tax Paying Individuals, One of the main highlights of today's budget speech delivered by our very own Honorable Finance Minister (as is done every year, irrespective of the political party in power) was the announcement of tax sops for individuals in form of bigger slabs and consequent lower taxation. This single event would have lifted the spirits of all, me included. I even started to calculate the savings and new expenses that I could make out of the saved taxed. Leading websites claimed it as power to the aam aadmi. People in my office and nearby were in joyous discussions about the amount they would save and where they would spend it. So much joy around and from someone who is as unrelated to you as the ruler of a foreign country set my skeptical nerves in action. What's wrong ? And that is when I realized this: We are being returned a fraction of the money that is taken from us by the way of inflation. Somebody realized that too much would expose their modus operandi. Here's how. Let's take the example of a salaried person, who has say an annual package of Rs 6Lakhs (Cost-To-Company). Going by accepted norms of salary structure in the IT industry, that person would be taking home somewhere close to Rs. 4 Lakhs in net taxable income after deductions. According to existing tax slabs for 2009-2010 (Assessment Year 2010-2011), the income tax amount for this is Rs. 34,000 (10% * Rs 1,40,000 + 20 * Rs 1,00,000). Since the basic tax free slabs have not been raised, we can safely assume that the net taxable income for the same salary would remain same in the forthcoming year also. So given the new tax slabs the income tax for the same taxable income is Rs. 24,000 (10% * Rs 2,40,000). So a savings of Rs 10,000 per year. Awesome figure you would agree ! Now comes the interesting part. As any mildly conscious person would know if there is one thing that kills all your hopes and dreams it is Inflation. Did you ever realize that that is also a tax that the governments put on your earnings (besides multiple other excise, octroi, services, sales, VAT, GST, etc. etc) ? Let's consider the inflation numbers as given to us by the moneylender of last resort - 7% (although I have full faith that you as a conscious breathing eating living human being know that the actual number is more than that). So if we are to beat inflation we must earn at the least 7% more next year, right ? Which translates to Rs. 42,000 (7% * Rs 6,00,000). Compare that to the Rs. 10,000 savings you got out of your tax sops.So just by inflation our governments take away our money from us. Given the recent high inflation across all countries, somebody clever realized that too much of it might invite too many uncomfortable questions. So lets give these fools something to cheer about. So they gave you Rs. 10,000 back. And you know which date this new round begins - April 1, 2010. Enjoy! ========================================================================= By the way, you are not spared if you are living in India or any other developed/developing nation worldwide (except for countries like Austria, Switzerland, etc.)

Why Socialism fails !

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Couldn't be any simpler than that!