Friday, February 6, 2015

Currency as a commodity


Currency as a commodity


Few months back, NaMo opined on TV - "FDI chahiye... Dollar aaye... Yen aaye... kya farak padta hai... ?"

Whether this was meant to be a poser ( not sure ) ?

Well... it means A LOT !!

So... let me elucidate... belows...


Several countries around the world have come out of slavery / colonization some 60-80 years back, we understand.

Do we understand this right, I ask ?

One of the principal and primary motives of colonial powers was erosion of the wealth / capital in all its form and formats to overseas locations.

Is it possible that even after 60-90 years we have yet to understand, realize that the same continues till date ?
Though in a different form, format and scale ?


It is not the case of old wine - old bottle. Rather, it very well could be -

new wine - new bottle; OR,
new wine - old bottle; OR,
old wine - new bottle.  ?

Or, is it partly a combination/ concoction of all the above items ?

Not sure ? Well... think... !! Think it out !!


We seem to be much content with the idea of self-governance, self-rule. Gloating in tune with the mostly implanted MSM.
Are our views, opinions and aspirations, etc. guided/ motivated by the MSM to a great extent ? Possibly.

Are we blissfully unaware of the system that is in vogue ? Possibly.

Finance/ Markets are not my domain, yet there are several questions that arise and I seem to have no clear answers.


So, have a few set of questions/ suggestions rather than any statements to make... as belows...


Have we failed to understand that major world CURRENCIES have become commodities ? Having intrinsic attributes of demand AND supply ?

Is demand and supply throttled /constricted to get the profits out of the INVESTMENTS ( say, FDI ) ? Is inflation and interest rates but complex manageable tools to profitably aid return on investment ( RoI ) ? Is there a pattern to it ?

Do not know - how, why, where and when ?

And, is the economic downturn periodically engineered ? An effort to reap in the FRUITS of the Investments ?

Throttle, control or constrict the flow of capital, as such ? Particularly a specific set of currencies in the global financial markets.
Say - in particular a specific currency. The de facto currency reserve.

Is that the moot idea ? the real motive, motivations behind all these crises we see around us ?


Now...
Effectively, has the world wealth of ( say, imaginary ) USD 04 trillions in early 1930s grown to ( say, imaginary ) USD 900 trillion today ?
While the world population has grown. There is growth in inflation, as well. Almost all the currencies have depreciated and lost value.
Some, much more than many others.


Is there any truth in this - richest people, mega-corps, etc. that held 20-30 % of world wealth now hold > 55-70 % , over the last 70-90 odd years ? ( read somewhere )

How is this possible ? Is it by controlling/ constricting/ managing the demand/ supply of petro products ?
The huge market for ICT products & services ? By controlling the demand/ supply of defense products and wares ?
By means of bio-engineered GM crops and seeds ?

Basically control/ regulate the pricing, demand and supply of these ?

I would bet... yes.


Now... again...

In effect, when the nett quantum of a currency in circulation and in reserve grows - the nett wealth of other nations denominated in that same ( reserve ) currency dwindles. Thus the nation state gains/ holds a bit more of the same currency. While the TOTAL quantum of the same capital ( reserve currency ) has grown out of bounds. Is this the norm since the past 60-80 years ?

This, in effect, dilutes the effective nett annualized wealth gain as also the wealth ( say, currency reserves ) holdings of a nation ?
Is this, but, true ?

Capital ( Other reserve currencies ) have been used to mop up the wealth around the globe. With... gay abandon.

(C)overt economic/ financial/ military wars have been engineered to wreak havoc on economies, nations and currencies.
Affected nations go 5-10-20 years back in development index. And, the war mongering developed nations keeps moving on.

Net effect is - developing nations keep on importing arms, technology, medicines, etc. from the developed nations.
We get poorer. The only option we have seen - we export our best source of the capital ( capital in its best form ) to the developed nations. As well as our minerals, ores, etc.

Are we into the mode of moving into perpetual subservience ( => slavery ) ? Would think so ? NO. NOT.

If so, how do we manage to get out of this ?

In spite of all this knowledge - we want to have wars and/ or proxy-wars. Are we smart or foolish enough ?

DO WE NEED "A FEW MIS-ALIGNED SET OF PEOPLE AT THE TOP/ HELM" TO DECIDE, DETERMINE AND ETCH OUT OUR COLLECTIVE FATE ?

DO WE HAVE SANE HEADS, WHO SEE THE LIGHT, IN SHORT SUPPLY ?


We have not seemed to have learnt much from centuries of slavery and abject, brutal subservience.

That means - are we doomed for perpetual subservience on account of some set of people who call the shots in an establishment ?
Can we suspect that there could be some elements/ advisors with unknown motives to the rulers'/ leaders of the day ?

Even the rulers/ leaders have, sometimes, lop-sided vision arising out of hind-sight. They are politicians first AND/ OR military leaders first.

Is this not possible that if someone were part of a military leadership - they would have to design wars to inflate their collective ego or for letting old wounds to heal. Or, for shelling out old arms/ armaments in order to purchase new ones.
Also, to get fundings to design, develop ( R & D ) new lethal ones.

Narrow-minded vision of things ?

It's high time - we all must think about this and redeem our collective future.


ON FDI...


Capital in the form of investment is used for two major purposes in-house; either as an -
a) investment, OR
b) expenditure.

The primary motive of those who invest is to reap in the profits of their investment, in a certain time frame.

Now, we see that...
There's a need for FDI worth USD $ 5 trillions over the oncoming 5 years ( someone predicts. Perhaps CII ).
This implies that we could be in need of USD $ 1 trillion per year worth of FDI every year for the duration of the NDA rule.

What immediate/ medium-term/ long-term economic growth this generates MUST be clearly thought out/ designed/ derived at.
At, the end of the day, we got to pay back the investment with the "fruits of investment". That is nothing but our national wealth.
It is purported to be siphoned offshore. Period.

Argentina defaulted recently ? ( if I recall correctly ).

One vital approach for policy makers would be to try to balance out any/ all infusion of FDI. MUST we need to source it
from several nations/ currencies/ currency reserves ? Diversifying the demand/ supply basket from diverse currencies ? In case, we can.
Is this at all feasible ?

This way, we MAY be ABLE to control the flow of capital the way we may want to ?
Is there a WIN-WIN mechanism that allows us to do this ?

Here, is it imperative to have more control over the corporate houses, Govt. institutions, etc. that needs to source FDI ?
So, that they MUST diversify the source of FDI.

There must be a centralized think-tank/ body that acts as a CHOWKIDAAR ?

This (SH/C)OULD be a national security issue, as well.

Those in the helm would understand MUCH better. As, a layman, I have my concerns no matter how-so-ever-much insignificant.
Need to air them. This could be vitally pertinent.

Not to forget that many corporate houses/ bigwigs and those that go in for foreign collaborations have a direct say in the manner in which they tend to decide on the quantum of FDI and how/ why/ what they are able to source it.

Our NatSec agencies must be able to regulate these elements lest they undermine our economic security.
Once economic security is undermined - we know this, all the other facets/ aspects of security are exposed to be undermined.


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