The govt.'s take on inflation at -1.56%, could be circuitously extrapolated to infer that the neighbourhood priest and kirana-wala have the best pedigree in leading honest lives.
Think through - if you take one who preaches homilies, at face-value, without a peek at what lies behind the smokescreen, you may find a Ajmal Amir Kasab, the terrorist who wishes to be hanged, because he says, 'I wish to be punished by the people who I have sinned against, rather than by God, himself!'
Wow, conscience - thy name is Kasab!
A plethora of garbage is packaged as news bytes in print and the electronic-media, including tweets and wall-posts on FB. Garbage, that not only wastes your time and energy but manages to perpetrate some fabulous myths. This, in a simple moment of reflection would not only get busted, but lead to detoxification of a kind that you may begin to have withdrawal symptoms!
Just sample a few of them -
- Inflation is negative
- Aided by overseas capital (inflow)...we are in a 'falling interest rate regime'
- Infrastructure development is happening ...TINA (there is no alternative)
- Any businessman who is doing well must be cracking a few crooked deals
- A business or technical degree-holder is a professional
- Service providers loot their customers through the fees they charge, and .....I can go on and on, but that will defeat the purpose!
Now, let me help you analyze -
- The growth in your bills - grocery, utility - viz. electricty, etc. and your monthly salary - Yes Sir! Your competence aside, the contribution of inflation is significant.
- India will attract lots of portfolio and FDI, which will drive investments & growth...but a lot of which will also drive inflation and push interest rates higher.
- Investments in infrastructure is on...albeit at a pace slower than we would like....this drives up costs and risks, as a result end-user affordability may go for a toss!
- Businessmen essentially are entrepreneurs who risk career & capital to stay afloat. They use their resourcefulness to survive - because he knows there will be no bail-outs (remember Citi Bank and Air India?). His resilience adds to the resilience of the economy. In contrast, the middle class white-collar cribs at every opportunity - they will make you believe that they are doing society a favor by clinging on to their 'risk-free middle-class heritage' no less!
- A degree holder and that's his badge - he is the self-anointed 'professional'. Ask him about his 'professional ethics' and he might shoot back - Aw, come on, what's that?
- Service providers, if they are lawyers, as Mr. Chidambaram had famously remarked - They don't provide any service hence they need not pay any service tax! A big 'thank you' to Pranab-da for ensuring, that, now, lawyers are also 'service providers'. By the same yardstick, financial advisors have been providing service to their clients for a long time.
If you fail to understand how inflation eats into your long-term savings and can't seek remedies for it; If you are bullish on India because the 'firangs with money have nowehere else to go'; If you believe that all businessmen cheat and are a threat to the country's growth and prosperity; If you are happy to be 'professionally' qualified, without being 'qualified' to discharge your responsibilities like a professional; If it inflates your ego to be treated like 'royalty' by rogues masquerading as Wealth Managers at your bank (incidentally they too belong to the 'middle-class white-collar') -
Then, you are bloody right, to tell any advisor who dares to ask you for a fee for managing your hard-earned money to ****-***!!!!!
