Who will benefit from the US$ 700 billion bailout package?

Who will benefit from the US$ 700 billion bailout package?

This question has been turning inside my head since the bailout package was first proposed. I have been trying to understand the rationale behind it and have come to conclude that certainly the package is certainly not for the benefit of the public at large. The only person who - as I can see - will get some respite from this bailout is US President George Bush. The only gainful purpose that the bailout package will serve is to buy time so that President George Bush can make a graceful exit from office.

I strongly feel that there is no way the crisis can get over until there is a major shakedown in the industrial sector. Manufacturing houses around the globe that stand on weak economic foundations will collapse and many people will lose their jobs.

Below are arguments to support this conclusion.

US has been the largest consumer of most industrial production both domestic and imported. Capital goods, durables, homes etc. Does it really have the appetite for a continuously increasing supply of so much of everything?

I don't think so - at least not any more for some time to come. There is a point when every bowl must fill and the bowl called US has just overflowed. Availability is much much above demand.
More cars are being produced than the consumers need. More houses are being built that the consumer require.... this list can go on.

In the begining of the industrial era - goods were comfortably sold to all those who had money to buy them. Soon, all the able had bought out. This was when the era of forced marketing came on the scene. Producers sought ways to sell their products - advertising, merchandising et al - every gimmick in the book was used.

There came a time when all marketing measures were exhausted, then stepped in the financiers. Consumers were provided with funding (through financial institutions) so that they could go out and buy more. Availability of credit made it easier for people who did not have lump sum cash on hand to buy and then pay gradually in installments. This lead to the second industrial boom. People went out and bought second and third cars in the family, bigger houses and all the luxuries credit could buy.

Everyone was happy! Folks were getting the goods they thought they needed. Financiers were earning good interest rates. Manufacturers were selling briskly at good margins.

It is natural, when one has to pays up front for a purchase, he will negotiate to the maximum and ensure he gets value for money. When goods are sold on credit it allows to the vendorto make some extra money in the deal.

As is the nature of free markets, competition stepped in. Many financiers mushroomed. They went out of the way extending credit - believe me way out. Soon credit limits increased as more and more credit was handed out to the consumer. In the bid to reach the customer first some financial establishments did not do proper credit worthiness evaluations.

The financiers were happy! They too went out and got loans - in the form of deposits or equity - to finance their customers. The consumers are loaded and loaded with tons of credit - overburdened. There came a period when the overburdened consumer just could not pay back. They started taking loans to payback old loans, and things kept getting worse. He was addicted to facilities credit brought to him and kept availing them too.

The whole thing bloated and bloated and finally the bubble has burst. Financiers are in deep trouble because the consumers are in no position to payback leading to foreclosures.
The foreclosed assets won't sell because there are very few creditworthy consumers willing to buy these overpriced assets. Financiers are stuck with assets that won't sell and have dried up the capital unable to pay their lenders - shareholders, depositers. Giants like Lehman, AIG etc have already tumbled and many more in line.

The US$ 700 billion bailout package will merely slowdown the impact of recession and not stop it.

It is now time that the manufacturers feel the heat. Manufacturers have not yet felt the impact, but they had better brace up. With financing out of the system, very few customers are left who will go out and buy their produce. The crash in the financial system is just a tip of the iceberg.

The so-called financial wizards have fallen

Investment bankers like Morgan-Stanley had left no stone unturned to convince us that they are financial wizards and know everything that is happening in the financial markets around the world.

To think, that they used to have their own rating systems and many a manufacturing companies have been quoted striving to ensure that they got a good rating with these so-called financial wizards.

The fall of the US financial markets and way Lehman, AIG, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley etc. have lined up outside US Fed's office has surely revealed their true nature. It has become evident that these people were just riding the wave and knew little or almost nothing about the actual conditions of the financial markets.

It seems that they were just cashing on the gullible people's belief. All their claims of deftness was just a marketing ploy. They efficiently used technical terms and literature to confuse the common man into believing that were on the top of things.

These so-called financial wizards have been the ones to fall the hardest in the current financial crisis.

Printer manufacturers can help control pollution

In an era where waste management is a big issue, would it not be in the interest of everybody if printer manufacturers like HP were to come forward to encourage refilling and encourage reuse of the printer cartridges, toners, ink tanks etc and provide proper ink, toners and refill kits?

Today, printer manufactures are actively engaged in using technology to restrict consumers from being able to refill the cartridges used in their printers. This is, obviously, done to force to users to buy the expensive "original" cartridges by the manufacturers.

For the users this means...

• Increased cost of printing per page.
• Piling up to avoidable waste in the form of empty cartridges.

The empty cartridges are contributing to the huge plastic waste that is compiling around the globe. My little office has 2 HP inkjet printers for the last 3 months and there are already 8 empty cartridges lying around waiting to be disposed.

The use of refilling not only drastically brings down the per page cost of printing, it also reduces a major waste management problem significantly. Besides this, if original solutions are available from the manufacturers, themselves, consumers like me will not have to use alternate low quality solutions from the grey market.

I strongly believe, it is high time governments take a pro-active step and convince the printer manufacturers to promote refilling in a bid to help reduce the wastage generated in the form of printer cartridges.

Publicity Gimmicks or Truth

The media has been going overboard with the news and rumours of developments in the relationships of Saif - Kareena - Shahid.

I find it very hard to believe that there is any element of "making or breaking hearts" in break-up between Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor and the reports of formation of a new alliance between Saif Ali Khan and the actress. It appears to be more of professional relationships that suit them and their projects at hand.

The timing for the change of partner by Kareena is a little too obvious to accept the theory that there has been any personal bonding or heart breaking between any of the three.

Shahid and Kareena were moving together while they were working together in the movies. Now that those projects are over it suits them to concentrate on their newer projects and team up with their new project partners. The media has also been talking about Kareena and Saif working together on a movie project.

I feel, that seeing the popular young actress moving around with a different partner caught the attention of some enthusiatic reporter. The interpretation of the coupling may have been done correctly or there may be an error - this is a fact that only the stars themselves can confirm.

Whatever be the case, the media has only been too obliging to provide them and their movie projects so much space and publicity for free. There are other movie projects that are spending mega bucks to get the same kind of of attention from the media, before the release of their movies.

So much coverage is certainly enough to motivate a section of the audience loosen their money bags and venture to the cinema hall to see the movies.

The conservative part of me certainly hopes that no one breaks his or her heart neither any of the famous Bollywood actors nor any of their fans when they find out that there was little truth or depth in the publicity.

Writing Blogs - Its good! Its Fun

I feel I have come a long way since 3rd December 2006 when I wrote my first blog here at Writer's Itch.

The more I write - the more I feel like writing, and believe me I have written a lot.

I may not compare to some of the professional writers who can write page after page without much pause, but still I have written enough original content - mostly research based - in the last 10 odd months. I have enjoyed all that I have written.

Let me summarize - I am presently maintaining about 8 sites, these include websites and weblogs. The way things are moving, I won't be surprized if it becomes 16 before I complete my first year at blogging.

You can find my content here at BlogSpot, then at WordPress. There's a link here that will take you to a blog at Opera.

One of my proud display is "www.merabsp.com" the portal for Information on Bilaspur City. It is been completely done from concept to implementation under my stewardship.

I have submitted articles for magazines - though not all were selected. I have tried my hand at news-writing.

Lets see how things pan out.

Writing here after almost 2 months

Hi!

I am writing here after more than 2 months, but I must say that I have been writing all this while. Internet has enabled me to wear my writer cap and now it just won't come off.

Writing has been my favorite pass-time or you may call it hobby, but I did not know that I would like it so much. I am registered with several sites where I contribute online with my writing. It really gives a lot of satisfaction that your work is being read.

The biggest thing of writing online is that you have a mechanism to gauge the number of times your contribution has been accessed. It lets me decide on which part of my own knowledge base I should dwell on to keep up the readership.

Its pays - a very important consideration. Money is a sign of ones success of his endeavors in life and once you are paid for some work you have done it speaks volumes about your work.

Above all, I am enjoying it.

Hindi transliteration is impressive.

I have been wanting to try the transliteration feature of the editor over here. Lets see how it works, here goes...

अब मैं इंग्लिश मे टाईप कर रह हूँ। जैसे ही मैं स्पस-बार दबाता हूँ तुरंत उसी जगह पर अपनेआप वहाँ पर हिंदी आ जाता है। इसने एक भी गलती नही कि। काफी अच्छा काम किया है इसको बनाने वाले ने।

The developers of this blogger site have really made effective use of technology and I must say I am impressed with this English to Hindi conversion done here.

Off late my contributions here have reduced as I have found a more productive place to write. My team and I have worked to develop the information site of Bilaspur. The development of content in this site allows me to exercise my writing skills.

Moreso, we have added a news section to the site. Though it has still not matured fully, it gives me enought opportunity to write and enter the news. This exercise has specially become exciting because some of the news sites have recognized the place as a news source, which in turn is driving some traffic our direction.

All the excitment of developing content for the site is keeping us busy with little time of write anywhere else. Still the itch to write prevents me from keeping away from this place for a long time.