Author: Beyond Assumptions

Economics of Ageing involves research on the health and economic circumstances of individuals as they age as well as on the implications of population aging on the well-being of older people. It analyses the various circumstances and future policy changes that may impact healthcare, housing and pension which affect retirement adequacies.

Economics of ageing emphasis on strategizing retirement of individuals through various measures. It may include reducing expenses, understanding social security benefits and most importantly, minimizing the stress of financial imbalances, such that one may have enough resources to maintain their standard of living. Other measures may include developing an overall retirement portfolio in order to maintain an excellent quality of care whenever it arises.

There are many books written on the concept and importance of Economics of Ageing. The Journal on Economics of Ageing offers a platform for the discussion of topics like labor health, family economics, income distribution, immigration etc. Also there exists research centers in both India and abroad where research is conducted on demographic factors and ageing which are upcoming topics of importance at micro as well macro level. They develop the thinking of individuals making them aware and more realistic while focusing on seeking expert advice in order to have a truly enjoyable retirement.

Source(s):

https://www.researchgate.net/journal/2212-828X_Journal_of_the_Economics_of_Ageing

https://voxeu.org/content/live-long-and-prosper-economics-ageing-populations

-Sampriti Das

Black money, dirt money, dirty cash are the many synonyms for the same illegal cash. No matter how much a politician denies it, a bureaucrat tries curbing it or a businessman launders it, black money is possessed by one and all, so much so that it has become an economy in itself.

Arun kumar in his book, ‘The Black Economy’ offers a brief guide to understanding the black money problem in India. It is, as presented on the cover, itself an enquiry into causes, consequences and remedies for the case of black money. The book is written in such a manner that even a person with no prior knowledge in economics can easily understand it. 

Arun kumar has covered everything from the definition to the remedial measures for the status quo of the black economy. The book is created after hefty research and provides statistical backing for all its assumptions and calculations. Kumar’s prior experience in the field of economics makes him just the perfect person to write about the subject at hand.

About the author:

Arun kumar was a professor in JNU for nearly 3 decades. He got his education from the University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, as people call it JNU and Princeton University.  At present, he is the Malcolm S. Adiseshiah Chair Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi.

Who should read the book:

The book is a treat for people who want to get a deeper insight into black money and the people who want to pursue research in economics or even those in the field of policy making.

-Yadu Krishna

The Christmas of 1929 was close,

But oh lord! Everywhere was morose.

To lift off the melancholy,

Linda and her friend left their house merrily.

They wanted to raise a toast,

But this time, they decided not to play the host.

They started wandering the State,

And oh! What glance did they steal?

As the depression was great,

All the markets lost appeal.

In their pursuit, they came across a line,

All the ladies demanding lipsticks fine.

Confused, off to an economist they went,

There was a theory that out went his vent.

‘The Lipstick Effect’ as he named,

Explained the way people behaved.

“People tend to buy small luxury,

Even when the economy is sorry.

Cash-strapped consumers treat themselves

To have back their confidence.”

This is all what the economist told,

Adding, “recession is the time when The Lipstick Effect does hold.”

-By Jyotsana Thareja

Onion is one of the most market sensitive commodities that creates ripples in the trade and also political circles. Its significant position in the diets across all income groups and as an important ingredient in many Indian recipes causes wide ranging effects of any significant price change. Prices of onions are more volatile than those of the non-farm commodities due to low price, income elasticity and inherently unstable production. The implication of instability is that, on one hand, price rise upsets consumers and contributes to inflationary pressures on economy and, on the other hand, a price fall diminishes the farm income thereby increasing the poverty in rural areas.

In 1998, merely five months later when people were triumphantly celebrating the Indian government’s nuclear tests, India was hit by an onion crisis. Being a pride item of agricultural exports earning valuable foreign exchange for the country and also a priority for the newly elected government, it increased the exports of onion in order to earn foreign exchange which fetched them a whopping ₹ 293 crore. However, due to the less produce owing to Maharashtra drought, Delhi faced an all-time high of ₹60 per kilo. This nearly brought down the government at the Centre in 1998.

Again in 2010, due to an unruly rainfall in the onion producing region led to an onion crisis which caused a political tension in the country. The Indian government had to forcefully ban onion exports, lower the import taxes and get in shipments of onions from our neighboring country, Pakistan.

Recently in 2015, Onion prices and the stock market were in the news for contrary reasons—one was rising precipitously while the other was falling rapidly. Deficit monsoons that affected the late kharif crop, unseasonal rainfall that damaged the winter harvest again led to a rise in the price of onions.

Recently, in 2019, prices of onion surged more than 100% in September after the flooding due to heavy monsoon, damaging the crops and reducing supplies. Following this, the government decided to ban onion exports and impose stock limits.

Now, it is yet to be seen that how the reactions from various stakeholders such as consumers, retailers, wholesalers and exporters make the government decide its next course of action.

-By Shrey Goyal

Rummaging through the pages of a glorifying history, the tradition of an Indian wedding has surpassed the hitches of time to sit back in the valley of eternity. And yet, the valley of eternity fails to promise a lifetime of blissful togetherness.

Brushing aside the probability of the bond to last forever, Indian weddings stand as a synonym to extravagance- so explicit that the Indian wedding industry continues to flourish at the rate of 30 percent annually. The country witnesses over 10 million weddings annually with an average expenditure between 20 lakhs to 5 crores. What comes as a major shock is the immunization of this multi-billion dollar industry against the economic state of recession.

India is a potent blend of the classic and contemporary. The “Big Fat Indian Wedding” has inherited the classic and fetched the contemporary to essentially transform into an ostentatious display of wealth. In 2018, the news headlines were hijacked by opulent weddings- be it the Ambani wedding with a budget of $1 billion or the Mittal wedding with the budget of $60 million. From #DeepVeer to #Virushka, the grandeur fueled the aspirations of many and fostered the idea of a dream wedding in an average human’s head. In a little la-la land, fantasies were set into motion but soon, the mirroring realities of disparities set in and what was left of those dreams was disappointment.

While the onlookers might suffer, weddings in India have turned into a major source of income generating jobs and miscellaneous opportunities. Travel and tourism, decor, jewellery, wedding planning, bridal attire, hospitality and all the elements of a wedding have flourished in their respective sectors. This is owing to the “trickle down effect” in economics. But, this effect is in response to “conspicuous consumption” (the purchase of goods or services for the specific purpose of displaying one’s wealth). Elite weddings are essentially an exercise of conspicuous consumption. This can effectively generate the notions of inequality in an economy. In an economy with a population of 1.37 billion, the notions of inequality do not fit in ideally.

Besides, speaking of economics, it is essentially based on the ideas of rationality. In a country where around 34 percent of the population lies in utter poverty and farmers die owing to agrarian distress, how is putting millions into weddings within the spectrum of rationality?

An estimate says that parents are likely to spend at least one fifth of their family savings on the wedding of their children. Why does a mere day/week have to rip you off a considerable section of your wealth? Why is it that a wedding has to be adorned with opulence?

A wedding is defined as a “union of two people in a personal relationship”. But, this conventional definition of a wedding has been sprinkled on with coins and currency. From the pre-wedding shoots to post-wedding honeymoon, it seems to have no end.

They say marriages are made in heaven but today, humans are creating their own heavens to make marriages.

-By Laisha Gambhir

We have cashed our prosperity in terms of money and economic growth which has led us to a real danger of environmental degradation. Young climate activists all around the world, struggling to make ‘the green new deal’ a global political agenda are absolutely right in calling it a climate crisis. Our leaders have moved forward with such irrational ideas that have led to such a mess of the environment and its resources, and the only sensible thing left is to pull an emergency break.

The circular flow of economy, in which firms produce goods for household, i.e., consumers, in turn providing them with incomes, which they could spend on buying goods and services, looks harmless enough. But one of the key features of this system is the role of investment, which stimulates consumption by chasing productivity, driving an engine of unsustainable growth which on one hand makes economic value but on the other hand pulls material resources relentlessly from our environment.

Today people buy things, even if they don’t need them and they actually need to buy them because, if they don’t, the entire economic system would crash and to stop it from crashing, the government eventually interferes so that consumption increases. Thus, people are persuaded to spend money.

Prosperity does not mean people having high incomes and more goods but prosperity means judiciously and sustainably using society’s resources. Investment should not be made for mindless and relentless growth pursuits of consumption but rather it should be made in nurturing the ecological assets, low carbon emission technologies and infrastructure.

Investment is such a basic economic concept which builds a relationship between a shared present and a common future. Thus, as prosperity is a shared endeavor, so redefining prosperity which includes less materialism does not stand in the way of development but is about realizing the concept of a minimalistic economy and to make an economy fit for purpose of a green economic growth.

-By Kimpreet Kaur Walia

The word maven comes from the Yiddish word mevyn meaning expert. Market Mavens can be considered as an extreme case of what we call an opinion leader (an organization or individual with an ability to influence public opinion on subject matter which he is known).

Market mavens have deep and extensive information on various subjects like shops, products, markets etc. They like to imitate discussions about various products in the market and help other consumers make the best choices. Mavens are usually very product experienced people but instead have more generalized knowledge derived from deep research. They may or may not have a very huge circle and sometime depend on others to spread their opinions or ideas. Mavens are the people who write product reviews on various blogs, they are the people who answer questions about various products on Reddit. Anyone can be a maven from a successful stock investor to your pados wali aunty who loves to shop. Mavens from the eye of a marketer are very important as they help in forming the public opinion about a product.

I recently interviewed or more like hung out with a person who possesses almost all the traits of a maven. I met Adil (name changed) in the food court of a huge mall. When asked about the restaurants, he knew the specialty of all of them. Fun fact 1: This was the second time he was visiting the place. Then I told him, “Let’s go buy jeans” and I went towards Gas showroom, he in the way, advised me to try Calvin Klein as according to him it was better, reason being they have a patent which makes ck more attached to the waist of a person. Trust me on this one he was right, ck was better. Fun Fact 2: He had never owned one pair of ck jeans. After that, we went to buy headphones, I due to brand loyalty went to buy beats but Adil persuaded me to buy Bose stating that they have better sound quality and noise cancellation. Fun fact 3: He did not even have a headphone. When asked about how does he know about all this stuff he said “I just picked it up “. Clearly Adil understands brands lot better than many of us do and also helps his friends pick the perfect products.

Market Mavens make the boring experience of shopping fun and interesting. They are angels to us mortals. So the next time you meet your everyday maven don’t forget to thank him for his service.

-By Yadu Krishna

Economic Methodology is the study of methods, especially scientific methods which are used in economics along with basic logic and reasoning for arriving at a particular conclusion or decision making. There are various tools used in economics which are compared and considered before making a particular decision. As economics is a subject which uses mathematical application for describing human behavior, these tools are scientifically proven and most of the time graphically represented. The very simple tools ranging from concept of demand, supply, equilibrium and graphs describing them are all part of the methodology.

The methodologies have a great role in formulating economic theories. The theories described today are results of methodologies used in the past. These methodologies were formulated with lot of intellectual debates by different professors and scholars. One can attempt to use various economic methodologies to approach different economic issues. The methodology of a professor will be very different from the methodology used by students. Hence, methodologies are varied in terms of time, situation, person, application, etc. The choice of methodology will reflect the strength and weaknesses of an economic discipline.

Two main economic methodologies are: Deduction and Induction method.

The Deductive method involves reasoning from a few fundamental propositions, the truth which is assumed. It starts from general and moves to particular conclusions. In other words, it develops a theory and then examines the facts to see if it follows the theory.

The Induction method starts from the particular and moves to the general explanations. It collects observation and then develops a theory to fit facts.

The importance of economic methodologies lies where it relates various subjects, ideas, experiments, theories, observations and applications in contemporary economics. It has expanded to the frontiers of philosophy, including the relation of economics to the philosophy of science and the theory of knowledge. In another direction of philosophy and economics, additional subjects are treated including decision theory and ethics.

-By Sampriti Das

Asking questions is no defiance and for a healthy democracy, questions need to be asked. Media comes into play when the system is to be questioned for its policies and decisions. It is seen that this vast network of mainstream media is highly compromised. The Indian media is mostly focussing on the lives of the privileged – in education, healthcare, employment opportunities – than the bulk of the Indian people. The fact that India’s high growth rate has fallen certainly deserves serious attention but India’s new GDP growth of 5 or 6 per cent places it among the world’s fastest-growing economies. What is remarkable is not the media’s interest in the growth rate, but its near-silence about the fact that the growth process is so biased. The benefits of the economy only percolate down to the rich and the poor suffers. India has been completely failing in its social indicators and is also lagging behind most of the South Asian countries whose GDP growth is much lesser than India.

This article highlights India’s social inequality and its extent of lagging in social indicators indexes. The United Nations World Happiness Index placed India at 133rd position in 2018 which consistently dropped down to 139 in 2019. In fact, comparisons of social indicators covered in the Human Development Reports of the United Nations, or in the list of Millennium Development Goals, tend to be almost entirely in favour of China rather than India, and this contrast- and not merely China’s lead over in the growth of GDP per capita- does tell us something of considerable importance for development efforts in India. The latest UN Development Index places India at 130th position and China comparatively at 86th position. Similarly, India has improved its ranking on a global healthcare access and quality (HAQ) index from 153 in 1990 to 145 in 2016, yet ranks lower than neighbouring Bangladesh and even sub-Saharan Sudan and Equatorial Guinea.

Economic growth and the expansion of human capability is a two-way relationship. Growth generates resources which can be used for improvements in education, healthcare, employment, nutrition so the human resource of the country can be increased. And the expansion of human capability, in turn, allows a faster expansion of resources and production, on which economic growth ultimately depends. It could be asked whether India’s democratic system is actually a barrier to using the fruits of economic growth for the purpose of enhancing health, education and other features of ‘social development’. It is necessary to understand that a country is composed of both rich and poor and everyone needs to be treated alike so as to move forward and make our mark in the world.

 -By Nishu Agarwal