South Asian Socialism

Re: # 126


behram,

....... the money lenders in pakistan do a very brisk trade in the iraqi dinar and most people with a few bucks to spare know the current rate on an hourly basis - i actually know some folks who have made good money trading the dinar ....... but i would stay away from it .............

......... listen to salim and buy the euro - a couple of years ago i converted my inheritance to euros and have not regretted it ....... i would also consider the yen and the yuan (they are twins, you know) ..... in the short run the pakistani rupee is not a bad bet - in december citibank was giving a 10% return on a one year fixed deposit (now it has dropped to six percent) .......... this might come as a surprise to the clever folks on this forum, but the best darn investment i ever made was in national defense savings certificates issued by the government of pakistan !...... go figure !

........ the somali shilling, as salim points out, is still a long shot ............

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Hamid / masadi:

Why is it that masadi has a God given right to roam around the world? Whereas the anglos have no right to this?

If the Brazilians can develop ethonal from sugarcanes, can the bedouins not develop some sort of fuel from the dates? other than oil! Or are the dates only good for some date?

Salim:

Ever since the Brazilians realized that there is absolutely need for sugar canes in India, they have developed ethanol fuel, and the sugar cane market has shot up. I agree with your assertion that diabetes epidemic has gone up and all the more reason to stay away from sugar canes.

Now, the americans are developing fuel from corn (from Iowa). How will that work for non-feathered Indians? Or can we develop some other ``bhutta`` technology?

Regardless,

I am still waiting for Hamid to let me know his opinion on tea?

Respectfully submitted,

#119 by hamidm2 Re: # 117

zeemax,

............. help ! ... SR`s theory ... colonial taxation through inflation ?....... when do you think the US is going to default on its debt to the rest of the world ...

Oh dear. Caught between two titans. One `America is Super`, the other `America is Doomed`

Well, the simple answer is US is NEVER going to default on its foreign debt. Why should it? It`s not like Brazil or Argentina or Pakistan or anyone else. Its debt to the rest of the world is owed in its OWN currency, not theirs ... and it has a printing press. See?

The other reason is US never asked for this debt. It is simply the dollars US pays out for its imports which are just too huge for the banking system anywhere to absorb. So a lot of these dollars land up back in US securities which are, only technically US debt. In reality these are deposits with the US government.

The obvious counter to the `printing press` argument is a sharp decline in value of the dollar. But so what if the dollar crashes? That only makes imports dearer and you may need to switch to california wines giving a boost to local industry, and I may be driving Fords and GMs instead of Toyotas, besides the foreign lenders/depositors get less of their local money back, and the US deficits disappear. And what if the dollar shoots up instead? Even more foreign investment flows in, imports become still cheaper, local industry shifts into high value addition, and foreign borrowers are on the verge of default.

Whether the US dollar goes up or down, in either case it is the foreigners that get screwed. Not US residents.

There is truth in SRs argument re inflation tax. That is the cost of keeping local currencies cheap against the dollar to keep export market shares while importing inflation at the same time. But that too is for foreigners. How much is the inflation in US? Last time I heard it was 2% with interest rates at 5%. Where else do you find REAL interest rates of 3% plus?

So go ahead and buy another Latte`, and give the teller a smile next time you visit the bank. Nothing is happening to the US economy in a hurry. Only thing that hurts it is if you stop buying stuff and start saving instead. That`s a no no.

Cheers!

free market capitalism at work..

Homework Help, From a World Away
Web Joins Students, Cheap Overseas Tutors

By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 15, 2006; Page A01

It was almost 3 a.m., Alex Del Monte recalled, and he was cramming like crazy. He gulped can after can of Red Bull to stay awake, but the George Washington University sophomore knew he would flunk his Statistics 52 exam later that day if he didn`t call his tutor for help.

But so late at night? Not a problem if your tutor works 8,500 miles away and 9 1/2 hours ahead in Bangalore, India.

In an hour-long session that cost just $18, the Indian tutor, who said his name was Mike, spent an hour walking Del Monte through such esoteric concepts as confidence intervals and alpha divisions, Del Monte recalled. He got an A on the final exam. ``Mike helped me unscramble everything in my mind,`` the 20-year-old said.

Thousands of U.S. students such as Del Monte are increasingly relying on overseas tutors to boost their grades and SAT scores. The tutors, who communicate with students over the Internet, are inexpensive and available around the clock, making education the newest industry to be outsourced to other countries.

Actually, the tutor`s name is Mahakali Murthy, but like many Studyloft.com tutors, he uses a fake name to seem more American. Del Monte has used the service about every other week this semester, and he vowed that he would finish his studying well before finals this month.

Re: # 130

behram,

...... sorry for the delay ..... i like to have a cup of green tea after dinner but other than that i do prefer coffee, specially in the morning ............... desi style tea with sugar and milk is is highly overrated unless it has been brewed with poppy buds (dodian a`li cha) .......... and that stuff, tazo chai, that starbucks is trying to sell is simply disgusting ........... the future is in coffee beans

#131 zeemax
Sounds like a win-win situation for the US.
One of the things that Saddam Hussein was attempting to do was denominate iraqi oil in euros. Of course he was doing this out of spite rather than any serious financial consideration, but what is stopping the reserve and federal banks from trading in euros rather than in dollars?

#131 zeemax
Sounds like a win-win situation for the US.
One of the things that Saddam Hussein was attempting to do was denominate iraqi oil in euros. Of course he was doing this out of spite rather than any serious financial consideration, but what is stopping the reserve and federal banks from trading in euros rather than in dollars?

Americans are the only nation on Earth who are indebted in the currancy they print themselves. So if they really want to become debt free, all they have to do is to print a 9 trillion dollar bill and pay who so ever wants its loan back..................

It will simply raise infaltion and whoever gets paid will not be able to buy much with this 9 trillion dollar bill. It will also make Americans poor. So does the rest of the world because ther will be nobody to buy $200 nike shoes or $50 shirt that is made in Pakistan-India-Bangladesh (PIB) region.

So the money keepers know that is is better to keep the status quo. But how long will it go?

Chinese, Japan, and Middleeast countires being the creditors of USA can not get back their monies loaned to USA by force.

Lets say Chinese today decides to get their loans back today from USA. What can they do, Attack USA? They know that if they try to get back their loans back from USA, they are going to kill one of the good market and simply hurt them selves. They can ask USA support to get Taiwan back and in return get all the debts written off. So in a war between two giants, small nation will be sold off.

How about Japanese, can they get their loans back from USA. If they do they will also kill a good market and will also loose defence gaurantee from USA. They can certainly look else where and try to get more influance on ``land`` from small island nations.

Middle east kings will never dare to ask for loans back from USA as they will simply loose their kingdoms and ``democracy`` will take over.

So in a nut shell, do you think American Leadership is worried about loans and debts. HELL NO. They have the biggest stick financially and militarily.

``Jis ki lathi us ki bhains`` Urdu proverb.

It is small and weak countries that worry about debts because they will have to pay. USA does not care.

Have a great Day

Asfand Siddiqui

During last couple of months us dollar has depreciated by 7% versus Euro and brit pound if chinese are holding one trillion of us dollars that’s $70 billion loss

#134 by soysauce

... but what is stopping the reserve and federal banks from trading in euros rather than in dollars?...

Because Eurozone is not getting anywhere with 1.9% growth as against 4% of USA, and Euro as a currency may not even be around in ten years because of internal differences.

#135 by asfand
It is small and weak countries that worry about debts because they will have to pay. USA does not care.

You`re right on the dot. US doesn`t even have have to pay for what it buys. Howzzat?

Hamid,

A former pro-china leftist(a joke in itself, if you know what the pro-china leftist is) has been posting the same stuff abt the demise of the US economy, the US Dollar and the US Corporations, and of course the political system for the last ten years. I am sure he was convinced of the impending doom of the US when he landed in the US a quarter of century ago for some monetary benefits. He ended up as a financial analyst (insurance salesman).

Now everyone knows that the financial products are sold by invoking fear in a customer’s mind. A financial analyst would say, “You should buy Insurance for your wife and kids, if you die prematurely”. “You should have 401K and IRA because there is never going to be enough Social security when you retire”.

Shiit, some of them are so good that they will paint a picture of your coffin with your wife and kids begging outside for the funeral expenses. It is their job to sell fear. That is how they make money. Fear is the key word for every financial salesman. After selling the fear, they think they are helping people. Some irony!

Compared to the financial salesman, the car salesman and the real estates salesman would always paint a rosy picture because they are selling products that people use when they are still alive vs the financial product which you always leave for your wife, who is looking for some Caribbean vacation as soon as she gets the insurance money or the 401k or the IRA checks.

Some financial analysts even fail in selling fear (one of the easiest things to sell in this world). They are so unconvincing despite many efforts that end up in a perpetual worrywart state and create several nicks on chowk and cut and paste their huge knowledge that they gained from NOT selling insurance to educate people abt the impending doom of the US.

In the last 10 years at least, the US economy has grown. The US has acquired more investments from all over the world. Just compare the Chinese investment from ten years ago to today. Our resident financial expert obviously needs to learn from the Chinese financial experts.

In the last 200 years, the US economy and standard of livings have doubled almost every thirty years. There is nothing to suggest that this trend would not continue. But even if there are some hiccups after 200 years of sustained progress (like the one in 1930s), they wont last forever.

So keep enjoying your latte.

I would continue to support the US in taking care of the countries that even think of ruining the Oil and Gas pipelines. A shortage of Gas and Oil would be the only thing that can bring this economy down and we have Rummy, Bushy and Cheney to take care of that….despite their utter stupidity in every other matter.

Re: # 138

hp .....

thanks !...... phew ! ... for a while there i was getting a little worried ......... but i still have a nagging fear - what if the chinese use all their dollars to buy manhattan and then tow it off the coast of china ?....... it wasn`t that many years ago that i had to make an emergency trip to see the rockefeller center before they moved it to downtown tokyo ............. these financial geniuses give me tha heebie-jeebies ! .......

........... as if these merchants of gloom and doom were not enough, we have a billion muslims who are praying five times a day (plus tahajjud and taraweeh) for the destruction of america ........ correct me if my math is wrong, but that is one gazillion and forty five zillion rakats a year - all going to the same address with the same request ............ my only hope is that they all have the wrong address !

zeemax and HP sahib: thanks I was so re-assured after reading your posts, I got the most expansive meal in the cafe today ..on top of that got a large coke and cheese cake for desert. May God bless america. I might get fat, end up paying loan payments all my remaining life, might eb called imperialist by my fellow ex-coutrymen and tehir neighbors but what the hell I am happy.

So happy Latte and Coke time!! and oh yeah drink a cup or two of green tea too to help our Chinese friends.

Re: # 121 Hamid sahib,

Reading your lampoons is always fun. But it seems you are also half-serious in defending the honor and dignity of the Empire. Oh, but you even dispute the very idea that the US is a de facto “empire” in so far as it has managed to get a “free ride” at the expense of some others. Why? What’s wrong with being an imperial citizen? Roman were proud of it. We should be too.

I say “we” because like yourself, having taken an oath of loyalty, despite being born in the far flung provinces, I too am a citizen of the empire even though I presently live in voluntary exile. (It isn’t that I didn’t love all what our Rome has on offer. No. I loved the open markets in the Forum Romanum, the bath-houses and brothels, the abundance and opulence. I loved it all. It’s just that in our Caligula’s reign of terror his praetorian guards were getting a bit too high handed and the tax tribunes were relentless. Furthermore I didn`t quite care for the game shows in the Coliseum featuring the ball-gladiators either.) The point is that I am just as loyal a Roman as you. So let’s please dispense with this indignation you (and some of your wannabes) seem to express at my unpatriotic rantings. Otherwise I’ll have to start comparing you to Urstruly. Or worse yet, to tahmed. Banner-holders both. Blind loyalty to their brand-name first, any logic or merits of the argument be damned. I hope that after this assurance you’ll calm yourself down and be sure to not worry about any plastic explosives (or Molotov cocktails for that matter) concealed in my fanny pack.

There is always a disparity of power among people, groups of people and even among nations. This has always been the case and perhaps always will be. The dominant power of any era has always managed to get a free ride, to a greater or lesser degree, at the expense of others. So this is nothing new. This is not a value judgment and there is no need to get worked up about it. It just stating matters like they are without ascribing either diabolical or angelic attributes to them.

The interpretation of economic history I forward is just one way of looking at the facts. Consider it with an open mind and feel free to disagree. But don’t get hysterical like a jehadi does when one tells him that Islam was spread by the sword, for instance. Try this. Tell an Islamist that when the Caliph Omar wrote a letter to the ruler of a soon-to-be-invaded kingdom and laid out three conditions: (1) accept Islam, (2) Pay Jazya, or (3) prepare for war – it was an act of naked imperial aggression. Just try saying this. The jehadi in question will demonstrate the same indignant disbelief as the desi-babus, on this board who jump at any one who so much as says a word against the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

So, if it pleases your honor, let me just repeat the gist of what I said:

The US is the de facto empire of the day, so naturally it gets its lions share of the spoils of the world. Any empire would have done that – if even not much worse. (God help us all when the Chinese have their hey day.) But the empire is fast approaching it twilight. This empire has its days numbered because it has turned into an Empire of Debt -- particularly since 1985.

There comes a point where an economic unit has to sell its assets in order to meet its interest payments and debt obligations. That’s America today!

America has become a “Ponzi unit” as Hyman Minsky describes in his 1986 book, ‘Stabilizing and Unstable Economy,’. He identifies three distinct income-debt relations for economic units: hedge, speculative and Ponzi finance:

1) Hedge-financing units meet all of their payments from their cash flow.

2) Speculative units can meet the interest payment from their income, but are unable to repay the principal out of cash flow from operations. They need to roll over their liabilities.

3) Ponzi units are unable to pay the interest on their debts by their cash flow, let alone repayment of any principle. They depend on new borrowings or selling assets even to meet their interest bill.

It is a reasonable conclusion that the U.S. economy and its financial system on the whole have become one gigantic ``Ponzi financing unit.`` But before my pinko buddies uncork the Champaign let me hasten to add that these are historical trends that do not change over-night. It took Rome eight hundred years of slow decline until the end. The US empire should take at least eighty. Thirty of them have already past. Happily, I shall not be around to see the end. Like you, I hate the Chinks too..!!

...SR

#139 by hamidm2
“what if the chinese use all their dollars to buy manhattan and then tow it off the coast of china ?”

You forgot…Jihadi attempted that already….they tried to pick up and carry twin towers in two cargo planes…except that they did not know that those were not cargo planes and they actually needed container ships to carry those buildings to Kabul…And of course the NLC from Karachi onwards.

Btw, do you get you Starbucks gift card thru your bank? I do...

Dulla birather...try some honey in the green tea... good for the nightly exercise...Well in your case that maybe weekly…