Month: November 2016

A Tale of Two Shocks

Two shocks rocked the world: Donald Trump’s upset victory in the US presidential elections, and the demonetization of high-denomination currency in India. Both can be expected to have profound repercussions. I will pass commenting on the tears of Hillary Clinton — delicious though they are to yours truly — except to say that to me the result was as unexpected as it was delightful.

The Indian economy experienced a massive shock with the announcement that Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes will no longer be legal tender starting from just a few hours after the announcement. An astounding 86 percent of all currency was rendered worthless for transactions, and only the remaining 14 percent was expected to serve for a short term (hopefully) the myriad purposes that money usually serves in an economy. A monetary shock of that magnitude cannot but have complex intended and unintended consequences. Continue reading “A Tale of Two Shocks”

Freedom is an acquired taste

I am convinced that freedom is an acquired taste, somewhat like dietary preferences. People brought up in a vegetarian households are likely to prefer vegetarian food. People brought up free tend to prefer freedom and those brought up under command structures, prefer that. Muslims apparently prefer the stifling, humanity-denying strictures of Islam that non-Muslims generally find horrifying. Continue reading “Freedom is an acquired taste”

AMA: the “What I Profess” edition

Dashboard "Bobble head" Jesus
Dashboard “Bobble head” Jesus

This is a confession of my beliefs on a variety of subjects, some fundamental and some derivative. It partly answers the question “who am I?” and goes some way in demonstrating that the matters I profess have coherence, consistency and structural integrity. I will first introduce them as a list and then expand on each item as needed. I will keep this preamble brief as I expect that I will learn much about myself in the writing of this personal piece. This  is a personal confession; expect liberal use of the first person pronoun. Continue reading “AMA: the “What I Profess” edition”