Re-rebuttal to uninformed Opinions about India

Following article is not a discussion on a current issue but a fine view of how ill-informed opinions about our nation 'India' can lead to people claiming Congo & Mongolia of being better in standard of living than India! Here, am putting comments of a netizen who asserted that Congo is better than India in its Standard of Living. Notwithstanding mere measurement units, am putting her rebuttal & then my re-rebuttal here. Look how she makes arguments against assertions I haven't made. Enjoy reading ahead.

Readers may access this argument here. Joanna Liberation makes some dumb assertion about India. Typical sub-standard assertions as evident elsewhere on web.

ISSUE- A netizen asserts that Congo & Mongolia's per-capita GDP is higher than India, using it ironically. This was to undermine India's mammoth developments going on today. Author of the blog Bhagirath Baria replied that this person needs some lessons in Macroeconomics if she's making such blur assertions. Then a rebuttal comes. Re-rebuttal is as below:

To Joanna Liberation: Apology for being late. I didn't get any mail about a comment on the blog, so didn't know about your rebuttal. Am putting you arguments first & then my re-rebuttal-

Joanna: rath_baria, an Indian worker is not better off just because you classify his poor ass together with billion other poor Indian worker asses in one "nation" or "society" abstract group. You may root for national reproductive pride, but I prefer to root for higher standard of living of the working class.

ME: Typical sub-standard stuff I hear from most of the ignorant souls. Your assertion about Higher standard of living. Do you even understand what Higher Standard of Living means? Leave it aside. Do you even know how & when to compare 3 Nations consisting of far differing variables that affect them? Leave it too! Do you even know anything about India except your halo-learning!

One society, One nation. Yes, I classify his poor ass with other billions just as I would classify your ass with the other many asses of the nation you belong to. Or let me assume, you're in a boundary-less 'fantasy', reducing yourself to an individual. If so, there's no point to argue here. We both have different viewpoints then. Still, when you wake up from thy dream, thou shall let me know, we'll argue! And yes, am an ardent Nationalist

I have not asserted anything about India's standard of living. But you have By making 'per capital GDP' as a yardstick, which I must oppose. Per-cap GDP is NOT a measure of Standard of Living, even a student of Macro would know that! Standard of Living consists of many Qualitative variables such as Health, Education, Water supplies, HDI, HPI, GER, etc. India fares far better than Mongolia & Congo.

Higher GDP/capita doesn't mean Higher standard of living per se. Labour Force is tremendously improving here in India, Entrepreneurs are thriving at Bottom of the Pyramid, don't believe? Read "Bottom of the Pyramid" by Prahlad. Health sector has seen Private sector's involvement at huge scale. Costs are coming down. India's a hub of Medical Tourism(Macroeconomics). We have a booming Middle class which every major Foreign corporation wants to grab. We have Consumption boom, We have Infrastructure penetrating rapidly in NER, NW, even in the Central mainland.

Some facts[Just a glimpse]: > Mongolia's GDP(PPP) = $11.018 billion, Congo's GDP(PPP) = $23.117 billion, India's GDP = $1843 billion, > Mongolia's Population: approx. 2.8 million, Congo's Population: approx. 70 million, India's LABOUR FORCE: approx. 450 million! GDP/capita comparisoon is futile here, India's total Labour Force = apporx. 6.2 times bigger than Mongolia's & Congo's TOTAL POPULATION. Don't you see the differences between the variables. Comparing them on your Per-cap GDP yardstick is only to blur the real image. (NOTE: All the data is based on World Bank database)

Congo's population resides in extreme poverty, Mongolia has been under the evil of poverty since 1990. Transition to Market Economy(or I love to assert 'system') is an important reason here. Livestock dependence has been shrinking badly in Mongolia.

Now if you're rejecting or unaware of these facts, I'll thus repeat, Brush up your Macro. About India, please come to India once. I shall be with you & ensure you get to see all that's changing rapidly here. You must observe it by yourself rather than sitting at your home & proclaiming fantasies.

Congo, Mongolia. They are improving, but far from being compared with India. Such comparisons lead to incorrect results.

Joanna: "Abstract groups" like Society, Nation.

ME: What abstract? Such collectives haven't jumped from heaven or hell. They've "Evolved". I do not bother about other nations, but as far as India is concerned, we are a nation because of a long, persistently laborious, repressive & a hard-earned History. India, as such was never thought of as a nation. Its cultural, Social, Geographical & Political diversity was so complex that the Colonial rulers proclaimed that India can never be a single nation. Alas! They've been proven wrong & shall always be.

We(Indians) are a nation because Generations & Generation have gone through this process. Sheer repression of Aristocrat Kings, Emperors & then the Colonial ruler led to a Union of Diversity being formed, slowly & gradually. Even today, India is, by many, called a 'group of many nations'.

These are the facts one needs to know about India, before discussing upon it. As such you have the rights to discuss on anything, but such uneducated arguments as you've made in the reply, would lead to a blurred dialogue.

Read "Modern India" by Bipan Chandra, Read "Freedom at Midnight" by Dominique and Larry, Read "Ancient India": New Research by Upinder Singh, Read "Medieval India" by Mahajan. You'll find most of these on Amazon. Read these. Then make your brazen, false arguments about abstract grouping.


Readers shall be updated about further developments herein. Regards.

Fiscal & Monetary Policy: Divergence & Paradox

Since past few months, Food inflation & the General Price level have been the topic of heated debate. RBI's successive hikes since past 11 months expresses the urgency to deal with mounting inflation. Repo rate has been increased to 8.5%. Recent food inflation data shows 11%+ level. The rise in Prices seems to be peaking now, only to fall from next calendar year.


During 2011, Fiscal policy has been expansive, meaning demand-boosting. Recent data shows Government has already reached around 68% of the Fiscal deficit target for entire 2011-12. Policy announcements, newer laws, focus on Social infrastructure, infusing capital in loss making PSUs & a few more signify an expansionary stance fiscally. Recent hike in Petrol prices means difficulty in letting Diesel & Cooking Gas prices rise, this means continued & even increased Subsidy burden.


Lack of relative revenue generation, increasing expenditure & RBI's anti-expansion Monetary stance clearly bring out a divergence between Fiscal & Monetary policies in India. This has to do with following reasons:

1. Government's utmost concern is continued expansion of Economy(read GDP). This is essential because Growth is the fuel for our Development process & also due to competitive atmosphere Internationally amongst the BRIC nations.

2. RBI's key concern is containing inflation, which hits the aam aadmi hard. Though the Theory of burden on common man in current outlook is debatable, still it does result in diversion of Income of households towards basic necessities & money cost. Due to Dear money policy, Private Expenditure + Investment Expenditure are impacted, these fall. Growth in GDP is restrained.


Here's The divergence:
> Fiscal Policy is Growth-expansive, Monetary Policy is Growth-unexpansive.
> Such a divergence may well be the reason for continuous 9%+ inflation, recently being 11%+.
> This may even result in confusion for Economic agents, Fiscal Policy may not work out well.

The Solution in near term:

A pause in rate hikes by RBI, Vociferous reforms-drive by the Government especially in case of NMP(National Manufacturing Policy), NTP(National Telecom Policy), DCT(Direct Cash Transfer) in place of PDS, Usage of Buffer stock to reduce Demand-Supply gap of Food articles, Willingness to sacrifice some growth for reduced prices & above all a synthesis between the Finance Ministry & RBI is the need of the hour. More on this issue soon.