Economy & Equity

Sado-Monetarism  The Role of the Federal Reserve System in Keeping Wages Low https://monthlyreview.org/2012/04/01/sado-monetarism/
by Michael Perelman Neoclassical economists are concerned about the workers’ transactions with capital, but they care little about the workers themselves or their working conditions. Workers merely accept a wage bargain, go to work, and finally collect a wage.

The Federal Reserve serves the needs of the powerful. Its role is to protect capital against the interests of labor. In order to maintain labor discipline, the Federal Reserve Board is entrusted with the task of maintaining a level of unemployment high enough to keep workers fearful of losing their jobs. Workers’ acceptance of mediocre jobs at modest wages paid handsome dividends for business, creating more demand (through debt), while making workers even more fearful of losing their jobs. In addition, workers’ insecurity also meant that they were less likely to quit in search of better employment, allowing employers to avoid the costs of recruiting and retraining replacement workers. Perhaps best of all, employers could enjoy this bounty without having to call upon the Federal Reserve to slow down the economy.

https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_511.pdf The Fed’s Real Reaction Function Monetary Policy, Inflation, Unemployment, Inequality—and Presidential Politics* by James K. Galbraith Olivier Giovannoni Ann J. Russo  August 2007  Does monetary policy influence inequality? More specifically, does information contained in the term structure of interest rates extend beyond inflation and unemployment to a measure of inequality in earnings? The answer is that it does.  

Agnipath Is A Marketing Trick In Which Job Destruction Is Being Sold As Job Creation https://thewire.in/government/agnipath-scheme-job-destruction-creation-modi-government   Even though the larger economic motives and social imperatives behind the Agnipath project have not been understood in its entirety by the larger public, the impact of the scheme which bars candidates above 21 years and renders 75% of recruits jobless after four years without pension benefits has triggered the anger of those who were desperately waiting for the call for recruitment. 

The Agnipath shock comes months after the Railway Recruitment Board changed its eligibility qualification, leaving lakhs of aspirants high and dry. With the agricultural and unorganised sectors, which provide employment to the stay-behinds, heavily hit by demonetisation, goods and services tax and later COVID-19 and Modi’s lockdowns, north Indian youth pinned all their hopes on army recruitment. But Agnipath has come as a bolt from the blue.

India is facing a great unemployment crisis and Modi has aggravated the problem with his disastrous economic policies and now his neoliberal recruitment policies.

Comment by S Dutta: Which "India" is he talking about ? Somewhere in Latin America ?

All available data shows "per capita income" of India was around 135,000--149,000 py in 2019-2020. That's also supported by outside estimates of about $1950/per capita per annum.
Did COVID push that up to INR 203,500 by some Modi magic !

And -- "Bottom 50%" of Indians are 700 million, not 600 million !
And - bottom 50% has average income of 4,500 pm means what ? Per capita or per family ? If it's per capita, as indicated, survival won't be this stressed.

https://wid.world/country/india/ 

India amongst the most unequal countries in the world, says report https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/india-amongst-the-most-unequal-countries-in-the-world-report/articleshow/88141807.cms

Fuel Price burdening the Middle class 

https://youtu.be/uHmkBIO8eZo?start=711&end=765 

when 23.5 percent and 20.9 that is almost 22 of your daily income goes into petrol and diesel and almost
15:06 of your daily wages goes into lpg
what is left for you for food !

Unfortunately the sad part is the richest man in india pays the same price for a liter of petrol as the poorest man or auto rickshaw driver pays for his diesel that both of them pay the
same price they pay the same taxes!
How fair is that?

Unviable populist schemes could create Sri Lanka-like situation, say secretaries at meet with PM Modi
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/unviable-populist-schemes-could-create-sri-lanka-like-situation-say-secretaries-at-meet-with-pm-modi/articleshow/90633791.cms .. 

Two secretaries while citing a populist scheme announced in recent assembly polls in a state, which is in financially bad shape, and similar schemes in other states said they are economically unsustainable and could take the states down the same path as Sri Lanka, the sources said.

During the meeting, Modi categorically told bureaucrats to come out of the mentality of managing shortages to the new challenge of managing surplus. He told them to give up the old story of citing "poverty" as an excuse for not taking up major development projects and asked them to adopt a bigger perspective, the sources said.

Lessons for India in Sri Lanka crisis  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLS6M9KuTpk Apr 6, 2022

The senior officials of India are worried that the process of distributing Revdi in elections can be dangerous. Can India go on the path of Sri Lanka? Why don't the state governments fail to make big promises despite the deficit? What is the danger in this and how can it be treated? Shivkant Sharma explained in detail in Alok Adda.

Wrong economic policies but not like Sri Lanka?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smQMHuHzi_M Apr 5, 2022 The economy is in dilapidated condition. Unemployment and inflation are sky high but will the country go bankrupt? Prof. Arun Kumar is answering

BJP Govt lacks economic Vision - true or false! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F33H6I6EsNkApr 5, 2022 Increasing debt. Rising inflation. Tremendous unemployment. Petrol diesel beyond hundred. Vegetable Oil above 200. Why is this the case? Does Modi government have a vision? Supply side vision which is banking on increasing supply side by encouraging investment/industry, but there is a problem of low demand..