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Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Biggest Holders of US Government Debt !!!

As the US government spends an unprecedented amount of money to fix the nation's economy, there is an equally great need to raise the cash to pay for it. This is accomplished through borrowing, whereby ‘US Treasury’ sells Treasury securities of varying maturity.

For investors, the government bills, notes and bonds are considered a safe financial product because they have a guaranteed rate of return, based on faith in future US tax revenues. The government has been partially funding operations via Treasury securities for decades. This borrowing adds to the national debt, which is now above $11 trillion and is rising every day. Much of that debt is held by private sector, but about 40 percent is held by public entities, including parts of the government. Here's who owns the most.

1. Federal Reserve & Intragovernmental Holdings- $4.806 trillion
2. Mutual Funds- $769.1 billion
3. China- $739.6 billion
4. Japan- $634.8 billion
5. State & Local Governments- $522.7 billion
6. Pension Funds- $456.4 billion
7. Other Investors- $413.2 billion
8. Oil Exporters- $186.3 billion
9. Caribbean Banking Centres- $176.6 billion
10. Brazil- $133.5 billion
11. Insurance Companies- $126.4 billion
12. United Kingdom- $ 124.2billion
13. Russia- $119.3billion
14. Luxembourg -$87.2billion
15. US Depository Institutions- $107.3billion


I believe even if 5% holdings of all these entities enters the stock market of this world the volatility of the market will try to smoothen up and it would bring comfort and confidence to the financial market. Every entity being futuristic is still ready to hold and borrow more and more debt from an economy which is said to be the sole cause for this recession.

Ref.- CNBC

Credits - Manik Gursahani

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Deflation On Inflation...

In simple layman terms deflation connotes a contraction in the general price levels. As the inflation has fallen to a 30 year low of 0.44 %, which is now turning out to new darker clouds of deflation from inflation on India. The skyrocketing inflation has come to an end for now but had put us into new worrisome shoes in this dis-inflationary environment is a fallout of the drop in commodity prices, rollback in production and weakening demand. Such a sudden and frenzied fall in inflation numbers brings to another worry, namely Deflation.

For general consumers food grain prices are still holding high, vegetable prices have gone down lower on diesel prices. The decline in prices of food articles, fuel and metals has pushed the WPI to strange lows in March, 09. Mainly consumers and manufacturers defer spending, trying to cut production costs by either firing workers or employees which entirely leads to drop in demand and further fall in prices. Deflation has a deep and harsh impact on the economy. As companies are forced to sell their products at reduced prices along with reduce out their margins, which indirectly threatens job loss and pay cuts which is a cause of worry.

There is still a room of scope and joy as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a reflector of retail prices at the end-consumer level, held firm at 10.45%. Along with that Oil prices has again started soaring in international market along with that all time gold prices will bring some respite to the commodities market. Along with that this was just on week figures so deflation has not officially entered Indian Economy. I believe both RBI & Present government won't give easy permission giving out more scope to debt to expand from now onwards for a medium term. So folks don’t panic…..

Credits - Manik Gursahani

Ref. - Business Line

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Interim Budget 2009: The Pros and Cons...!!!

Major positives of this budget are:

•Major growth drivers this year would be agriculture, services, manufacturing, education & defense
•Increased Rural road development is positive for auto industry
•More emphasis on education by allocating Rs 40900 crore for Bharat Nirman Scheme
•JNNURM will be spending about Rs 11842 crore in this financial year
•Rural Jobs scheme would be provided with Rs 30100 crore in this financial year
•Steps to encourage private placements in infrastructure via PPP
•Interest subvention of 2% for export heavy industries like textiles, handlooms, gems & jewellery, SME and marine products have been extended till September 2009
•The government has relaxed the Fiscal Responsibility Budget Management (FRBM) targets to counter global economic slowdown

Major negatives of this budget are:

•It will be difficult both for domestic and foreign investors to raise money as no reforms have been laid out
•Infrastructure developments had been levied only to government institutions leaving out no specific scope for private investors to raise money easily out in this market
•Industry reforms were missing especially for various sectors like infrastructure, manufacturing, banking, exports which led to a steep fall in stock market for two consecutive days correcting to about 5.5%
•Finance Ministry has relaxed fiscal responsibility and budget management standards reflecting that its not going to be a progressive year
•During crisis or slowdown taxes should cut to relax the burden of common man but it’s not an aam-aadmi budget
•Additional plan expenditure has to increase by 0.5-1% a post poll which is next to impossible and it is expected to go up by 4-5% atleast
•Budget revenue deficit seen at 4%, fiscal deficit at 5.5%-currently at 6%
•Budget plan spending is very limited need to be increased after elections
•Industry production fell by 2% in 2008 & left out completely and is expected to a major fall in this period
•Challenge related to FDI & FII capital flows along with meeting inflation target of 4%
•Industrial growth fell by 2% on yearly basis still nothing much has been done in this budget

What Interim Budget holds for India?


Where on one hand, the industry didn’t have much expectation from this four month period- interim budget and on the other hand; it had few adverse effects on the economy and especially financial markets. The interim budget gave away nothing yet left many asking if this was indeed the time to play it safe, politically. This interim budget had opened up new gates for the next fiscal and monetary policy by RBI in the coming period which might live up to high expectations towards economy. But looking at the current market conditions it will be difficult for RBI to make extraordinary changes. It’s an extremely dry budget as the major emphasis was on agriculture only. The hard-hit real estate sector had been leading the call for fiscal sops for it. This budget came as non-event for the entire corporate world as it would lead to one more year of uncertainty and investments.

The government had left out many things and is indirectly dependent on RBI & stimulus package, which might not be a luxury for economy. The government is mainly looking at new pump-priming, interest rate cutting kind of solutions; and they are not looking at new solutions for a new crisis. The government could declare excise holidays for items which are in great trouble like cars or even can add a special interest rates subsidy for new house buyers and many other things. Accordingly this government is handling this economic downturn and it is believed they would be able to handle it better than any new government coming up with various experiments, thus Dr. ManMohan Singh, the ball is still in your court.

Analysis Done by : Mr.Manik Gursahani

Interim Budget 2009: The Pros and Cons...!!!

Major positives of this budget are:

•Major growth drivers this year would be agriculture, services, manufacturing, education & defense
•Increased Rural road development is positive for auto industry
•More emphasis on education by allocating Rs 40900 crore for Bharat Nirman Scheme
•JNNURM will be spending about Rs 11842 crore in this financial year
•Rural Jobs scheme would be provided with Rs 30100 crore in this financial year
•Steps to encourage private placements in infrastructure via PPP
•Interest subvention of 2% for export heavy industries like textiles, handlooms, gems & jewellery, SME and marine products have been extended till September 2009
•The government has relaxed the Fiscal Responsibility Budget Management (FRBM) targets to counter global economic slowdown

Major negatives of this budget are:

•It will be difficult both for domestic and foreign investors to raise money as no reforms have been laid out
•Infrastructure developments had been levied only to government institutions leaving out no specific scope for private investors to raise money easily out in this market
•Industry reforms were missing especially for various sectors like infrastructure, manufacturing, banking, exports which led to a steep fall in stock market for two consecutive days correcting to about 5.5%
•Finance Ministry has relaxed fiscal responsibility and budget management standards reflecting that its not going to be a progressive year
•During crisis or slowdown taxes should cut to relax the burden of common man but it’s not an aam-aadmi budget
•Additional plan expenditure has to increase by 0.5-1% a post poll which is next to impossible and it is expected to go up by 4-5% atleast
•Budget revenue deficit seen at 4%, fiscal deficit at 5.5%-currently at 6%
•Budget plan spending is very limited need to be increased after elections
•Industry production fell by 2% in 2008 & left out completely and is expected to a major fall in this period
•Challenge related to FDI & FII capital flows along with meeting inflation target of 4%
•Industrial growth fell by 2% on yearly basis still nothing much has been done in this budget

What Interim Budget holds for India?


Where on one hand, the industry didn’t have much expectation from this four month period- interim budget and on the other hand; it had few adverse effects on the economy and especially financial markets. The interim budget gave away nothing yet left many asking if this was indeed the time to play it safe, politically. This interim budget had opened up new gates for the next fiscal and monetary policy by RBI in the coming period which might live up to high expectations towards economy. But looking at the current market conditions it will be difficult for RBI to make extraordinary changes. It’s an extremely dry budget as the major emphasis was on agriculture only. The hard-hit real estate sector had been leading the call for fiscal sops for it. This budget came as non-event for the entire corporate world as it would lead to one more year of uncertainty and investments.

The government had left out many things and is indirectly dependent on RBI & stimulus package, which might not be a luxury for economy. The government is mainly looking at new pump-priming, interest rate cutting kind of solutions; and they are not looking at new solutions for a new crisis. The government could declare excise holidays for items which are in great trouble like cars or even can add a special interest rates subsidy for new house buyers and many other things. Accordingly this government is handling this economic downturn and it is believed they would be able to handle it better than any new government coming up with various experiments, thus Dr. ManMohan Singh, the ball is still in your court.

Analysis Done by : Mr.Manik Gursahani

Saturday, February 14, 2009

World-Sourcing... !!!

India has reached a critical juncture in determining whether it will shape or be shaped by globalisation. It’s now faced with the daunting challenge of moving toward becoming both a net producer and consumer of high-value intellectual property.“Worldsourcing” can help set India on a new course to prosperity and its fair share of the global economy.

Worldsourcing, in short, is a business strategy that smart, ambitious companies use to take the underlying forces of globalisation and shape them to maximise the value and quality they deliver to customers worldwide. At the same time, it makes maximum use of all the dispersed resources of a company, from talent to intellectual property to manufacturing muscle.

The distinctions between the so-called emerging and developed markets are rapidly fading, a trend that began with the emergence of information technology and global communications. This made it possible for billions of people in every part of the world to join a rapidly growing middle-class.Those consumers, no matter where they are, demand access to high-value products and services. This means producers must increasingly reach and sell wherever profitable markets exist, anywhere in the world. Thus, a worldsourcing company can create value 24 hours a day, following the sun.

There are crucial differences between worldsourcing and outsourcing. Outsourcing is a centralised, top-down strategy designed to save money on non-core operations by handing those operations to a third party evaluated by a single criterion: the lowest price.
Worldsourcing, by contrast, is a global, decentralised strategy designed to drive greater value and quality by distributing an organisation’s core functions — management, operations, processes, and production — across multiple global hubs of excellence located wherever the best resources, talent, ideas, and efficiencies exist or can be created.

Yang Yuanqing, CEO, Lenovo, coined the term Worldsourcing,in an article,where he referred Lenevo as a Worldsourcing company.

World-Sourcing... !!!

India has reached a critical juncture in determining whether it will shape or be shaped by globalisation. It’s now faced with the daunting challenge of moving toward becoming both a net producer and consumer of high-value intellectual property.“Worldsourcing” can help set India on a new course to prosperity and its fair share of the global economy.

Worldsourcing, in short, is a business strategy that smart, ambitious companies use to take the underlying forces of globalisation and shape them to maximise the value and quality they deliver to customers worldwide. At the same time, it makes maximum use of all the dispersed resources of a company, from talent to intellectual property to manufacturing muscle.

The distinctions between the so-called emerging and developed markets are rapidly fading, a trend that began with the emergence of information technology and global communications. This made it possible for billions of people in every part of the world to join a rapidly growing middle-class.Those consumers, no matter where they are, demand access to high-value products and services. This means producers must increasingly reach and sell wherever profitable markets exist, anywhere in the world. Thus, a worldsourcing company can create value 24 hours a day, following the sun.

There are crucial differences between worldsourcing and outsourcing. Outsourcing is a centralised, top-down strategy designed to save money on non-core operations by handing those operations to a third party evaluated by a single criterion: the lowest price.
Worldsourcing, by contrast, is a global, decentralised strategy designed to drive greater value and quality by distributing an organisation’s core functions — management, operations, processes, and production — across multiple global hubs of excellence located wherever the best resources, talent, ideas, and efficiencies exist or can be created.

Yang Yuanqing, CEO, Lenovo, coined the term Worldsourcing,in an article,where he referred Lenevo as a Worldsourcing company.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

G for "Greed" or "Generosity"... !!!

Gone are the days when in business, the letter G denoted "Greed". After crisis, people of Europe, Japan and prominently USA are disgusted with these greedy corporations. As if they no more believe in the brands, they trusted before. Now no more, they follow brands blindly. Common man believes that the greediness of these brands and corporations led to downfall of their economy.

So what to do, to win back the trust of the common man!

I guess, corporations need to understand that in today's business arena, there is no room for greed.
To succeed, the letter G should be replaced to "Generosity"!

A corporation need to be more customer responsive, ethical and value driven. Brands need to crush their arrogance and should communicate their "Generosity" through Public Relation (PR)campaigns, Corporate Social Responsible (CSR) Activities and by providing more value to customers through their products and services.

Thus, it introduces new form of marketing, as "Generosity Marketing".

Trendwatching.com discusses this concept and explains how could corporations and brands can have long term success, and can be a step ahead from their greedy competitors.

G for "Greed" or "Generosity"... !!!

Gone are the days when in business, the letter G denoted "Greed". After crisis, people of Europe, Japan and prominently USA are disgusted with these greedy corporations. As if they no more believe in the brands, they trusted before. Now no more, they follow brands blindly. Common man believes that the greediness of these brands and corporations led to downfall of their economy.

So what to do, to win back the trust of the common man!

I guess, corporations need to understand that in today's business arena, there is no room for greed.
To succeed, the letter G should be replaced to "Generosity"!

A corporation need to be more customer responsive, ethical and value driven. Brands need to crush their arrogance and should communicate their "Generosity" through Public Relation (PR)campaigns, Corporate Social Responsible (CSR) Activities and by providing more value to customers through their products and services.

Thus, it introduces new form of marketing, as "Generosity Marketing".

Trendwatching.com discusses this concept and explains how could corporations and brands can have long term success, and can be a step ahead from their greedy competitors.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

U.S.Future in Safe Hands... ???

George W. Bush is gone, after having two successful terms at the highest level, as the President of USA.
And here we welcome, Mr. Barack Obama, as the new "hope", as the new President, who promised "Change".

I still don't know, whom to laugh at, Mr. Obama, or his campaign "Change".

Or at the 2 million people of US, standing near Capitol and White House, just to be a part of inaugral ceremony, as if Mr. Obama is the saviour arrived, who has the magic wand and will "Change" the future of capitalistic US.

Could someone, please give me the rationale behind this!

Well, congratulations, to Mr. Obama.

When there is so much of uncertainty, its better to laugh at the picture beneath.

Future of USA, in the hands of both the leaders. Watch out for the reactions!!!



HA HA HA....

U.S.Future in Safe Hands... ???

George W. Bush is gone, after having two successful terms at the highest level, as the President of USA.
And here we welcome, Mr. Barack Obama, as the new "hope", as the new President, who promised "Change".

I still don't know, whom to laugh at, Mr. Obama, or his campaign "Change".

Or at the 2 million people of US, standing near Capitol and White House, just to be a part of inaugral ceremony, as if Mr. Obama is the saviour arrived, who has the magic wand and will "Change" the future of capitalistic US.

Could someone, please give me the rationale behind this!

Well, congratulations, to Mr. Obama.

When there is so much of uncertainty, its better to laugh at the picture beneath.

Future of USA, in the hands of both the leaders. Watch out for the reactions!!!



HA HA HA....

Calvin and Hobbes... view on Crisis... 15 years back !!!

My dear friend Sumit Gahoi mailed me this cartoon which is suggestive of today's economic crisis and bail-out packages.It clearly depicts today's scenario in a form of cartoon.

"Calvin's explanation of his Lemonade Stand's business perspective has a resonance to the American Banking and Auto industry's position in the economy. Remember that this cartoon was drawn over 15 years ago!"



"Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic—albeit stuffed—tiger. The pair are named after John Calvin, a 16th-century French Reformation theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, a 17th-century English political philosopher. The strip was syndicated daily from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. At its height, Calvin and Hobbes was featured in over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, more than 30 million copies of the 18 Calvin and Hobbes books have been printed."

Calvin and Hobbes... view on Crisis... 15 years back !!!

My dear friend Sumit Gahoi mailed me this cartoon which is suggestive of today's economic crisis and bail-out packages.It clearly depicts today's scenario in a form of cartoon.

"Calvin's explanation of his Lemonade Stand's business perspective has a resonance to the American Banking and Auto industry's position in the economy. Remember that this cartoon was drawn over 15 years ago!"



"Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic—albeit stuffed—tiger. The pair are named after John Calvin, a 16th-century French Reformation theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, a 17th-century English political philosopher.[1] The strip was syndicated daily from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995. At its height, Calvin and Hobbes was featured in over 2,400 newspapers worldwide. To date, more than 30 million copies of the 18 Calvin and Hobbes books have been printed."

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Slumdog.... INDIA !!!


I am eagerly waiting, for the Oscar nominations to announce. "Slumdog Millionaire" has won 4 Golden Globe awards and many others prestigious awards. The best part, an Indian, A.R.Rahman, winning international awards all round the world. Now, its time for Oscars !

But I have always felt that, only those movies (related to India) have done well in Oscars, which depict India as a underdeveloped poor country. Movies like "Salaam Bombay", "Gandhi", "Mother India", "Lagaan", "Water" and finally "Slumdog Millionaire", all depict India living into villages and slums. These movies showed poverty, socio-imbalance, riots, and what not. I guess, for the Oscar jury, India is still a land of "snake charmers".
Amitabh Bachchan rightly says, "Slumdog Millionaire has portrayed India as a Third World dirty underbelly developing nation"!
I still believe, that there were many other movies, which were equally good, and deserved an Oscar nomination, atleast!
My fingers are crossed, and all the wishes to "Slumdog Millionaire".

But I still wait for a movie, winning awards globally, depicting India's economic success.
I still wait for a movie, winning awards globally, that talks about Indian culture, diversity and unity.
I still wait for a movie, winning awards globally, that talks good and positive about India.

Slumdog.... INDIA !!!


I am eagerly waiting, for the Oscar nominations to announce. "Slumdog Millionaire" has won 4 Golden Globe awards and many others prestigious awards. The best part, an Indian, A.R.Rahman, winning international awards all round the world. Now, its time for Oscars !

But I have always felt that, only those movies (related to India) have done well in Oscars, which depict India as a underdeveloped poor country. Movies like "Salaam Bombay", "Gandhi", "Mother India", "Lagaan", "Water" and finally "Slumdog Millionaire", all depict India living into villages and slums. These movies showed poverty, socio-imbalance, riots, and what not. I guess, for the Oscar jury, India is still a land of "snake charmers".
Amitabh Bachchan rightly says, "Slumdog Millionaire has portrayed India as a Third World dirty underbelly developing nation"!
I still believe, that there were many other movies, which were equally good, and deserved an Oscar nomination, atleast!
My fingers are crossed, and all the wishes to "Slumdog Millionaire".

But I still wait for a movie, winning awards globally, depicting India's economic success.
I still wait for a movie, winning awards globally, that talks about Indian culture, diversity and unity.
I still wait for a movie, winning awards globally, that talks good and positive about India.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Exciting American Bailout...!!!

My friend Manik Gursahani mailed me, these interesting facts about American Bailout. I couldn't resist it posting it on blog.Read on.

"Adding in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars.
Some what around $7 trillion after auto bail out.....
People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.

Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est),Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion


TOTAL: $3.92 trillion"

Source : http://boingboing.net/2008/11/25/bailout-costs-more-t.html

Exciting American Bailout...!!!

My friend Manik Gursahani mailed me, these interesting facts about American Bailout. I couldn't resist it posting it on blog.Read on.

"Adding in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars.
Some what around $7 trillion after auto bail out.....
People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.

Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est),Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion


TOTAL: $3.92 trillion"

Source : http://boingboing.net/2008/11/25/bailout-costs-more-t.html

About Me

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I am an ardent Blogger, an enthusiastic Marketer, a Chemical Engineer and above all, a profound Thinker. I work for, Sales & Marketing Solutions, at Dun & Bradstreet. I did my MBA, in Marketing, from Alliance Business School, Bangalore, India, and B.Tech, from Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kanpur, India. I have also been associated with Tata Motors, during my internship, handling the product Tata Sumo Grande. I have won many Marketing Competitions, pan India.

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