Tag: Exchange rate

  • Rupee And Exchange Rate

    Let’s take the Home analogy further to understand Exchange Rates.

    Gold Bars.
    Gold Bars.

    When you can not meet your expenses, you borrow, say, from your neighbor.

    Nothing will go wrong if he does not borrow like you.

    If he borrows from the next man, the cycle of borrowing goes on and extends through out your city.

    Here money you actually have has not increased.

    What happens is that you get money from some one who has spare(because his Wants are less than yours) and on a large-scale  the artificial money is high when compared to the produce available.

    So the city gets things from the next city or where the produce is available.

    The hitch is they are also running into the same confusion of artificial money there.

    This cycle goes on.

    This is exactly what is happening to the World Economy now.

    Another point to note is that when you buy from the others as a produce, it has to be valued.

    Barter system did not have this problem.

    You wanted something which you do not have ,another man has and has no need of it when you ask him.

    The question of Money and valuation does not arise.

    Thanks to Money Value system, some Value has to be fixed as Values of products vary.

    Some joker said God is the standard and fixed it as a medium of exchange.

    That is when you want  to pay others you pay a in a Currency the value of which is determined by the Gold your group, in this case, the Government holds.

    The fallacy here is that the price of Gold is not Fixed and it is variable, though currency is linked to Gold taking Gold Value as Fixed.

    To prevent the process of not having adequate Gold every Nation has to maintain a Gold Reserve.

    It is unsaid that if one country does not or can not pay the Gold it has, can be sold by the Debtor to realize his dues.

    Fun is that who will buy that and at what rate!

    This option has never been resorted to nor even talked about .

    Linked Exchange System.

    A system of managing a nation’s currency and exchange rate by linking the national currency to another base currency that is held at a fixed ratio in deposit at domestic banks.

    Once the exchange rate is set, there is typically no interference from the government or through monetary policy decisions that will affect the exchange rate. Currency is only issued when there are reserves in the linked currency to back it up. If the exchange rate begins to shift from the fixed ratio, currency is immediately added to or taken out of circulation to bring the ratio back into balance.

    This is different from simply pegging one currency to another; in a linked exchange rate system, currency can only be issued when confirmed reserves in the linked currency are held at local banking institutions. In Hong Kong, for example, this means that every Hong Kong dollar that is floating around in the economy is backed by several U.S. dollars held in reserve.

    The advantage of this system is that it stabilizes the currency and keeps inflation ultra low. On the downside, the nation using it can’t leverage advantages in trading with foreign partners, and can’t carry out monetary policy to adapt to shifts in the domestic economy.

    Now the cost of Excavation of Gold is shooting up,

    When the cost of the Fixed Gold is variable, how come the related exchange rate is expected to remain constant?

    The people are paid, at the Mine itself based on the value of Gold at a predetermined Price while the Gold  they extract is costlier.

    Can there be anything sillier than this?

    Underlying problems are these in Gold Standard.

    1.Gold Price is variable and not fixed, it is fixed in the minds of Politicians, economists.

    2.Demand goes up every year, from Governments and Public, leading to less Produce more demand.

    3.There is high speculative market in Gold, akin to Online trading where no physical transaction place;everything is notional and paper Transaction to ensure demand and hence Profits.

    4.Fundamental of any sound economic system is Savings.

    To ensure Global economic stability all Nations must ensure the habit of Savings backed by Manufacturing .

    The greatest culprit is the self-proclaimed and yes-men of the world, is the USA.

    `It has disproportionate demand to what it produces and gobbles up be it energy or electronics.

    people think it is because of its Economy.

    No it is because of its military might Nations imagine it it o be a Giant in Economy.

    If the US stops its Imports it is gone with no Gold Reserves.

    Now this brings the issue of Gold that is in Fort Knox.

    Gold as we have seen is the bedrock on which the Exchange System is Built up.

    What is in Fort Knox, US?

    An estimated $130 billion in gold was in Fort Knox.(2012)

    Is it?

    Reference;

     http://www.livescience.com/32328-how-much-gold-is-in-fort-knox.html      

    http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/linked-exchangerate-system.asp

    Continues…

     

     

  • Disillusion of a Software Professional, Is this Life?

    Office of Dr. Philip Blake, Al Capone's 2nd Ps...
    Office of Dr. Philip Blake, Al Capone’s 2nd Psychiatrist (Photo credit: Chicago Crime Scenes)

    I have blogged on 11 July 2012, on ‘I would like to be poor’ where  I have made some comments reflecting on Life…..

    “Life loses its charm and becomes tedious when one has everything in terms of material comforts.

    Some get things too easily.

    People long for good food,shelter ,good clothes,Car,Gadgets likeMobile, iPod,Home, a Girl/Boy friend , a job which appears to be satisfying for a while.

    They get married.

    They postpone be-getting children to ‘enjoy Life’

    They work inordinate and ungodly hours, eat junk food, guzzle soft drinks ,Hard Drinks.

    On Saturdays/Sundays, they wake up around 12 and laze about, go out for food, sleep , then go out for Dinner and watch movies.

    Suddenly they realize that they are ‘burnt out’

    They have no desire to do anything.

    They leave jobs saying that they want to do things they always wanted to do, forgetting that they chose their Careers on their own and made decisions on their own over every thing.

    They become abrasive and irritated and become depressed.

    This does not end here.

    Once out of job, they try to do some thing which they think they like doing , get disillusioned shortly and start hunting for a job.

    Some times they get it immediately, some times they don’t.

    They become depressed further and consult a Psychiatrist.

    The Psychiatrist tells them that they should get their priorities right and decide on what they like and start doing what they like.

    And the whole Cycle begins again!

    http://ramanisblog.in/2012/07/11/i-would-like-to-be-poor-for-a-while-what-life-is/

    I saw a forward sent by my son, which I read to day, which showed me how the mechanical pursuit and unnecessary reflection can lead to disillusionment and how man reaches old age.

    Read this poignant b ya Software professional.

    WRITTEN BY AN INDIAN SOFTWARE ENGINEER..
    A Bitter RealityAs the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in
    Software Engineering and joined a company based in USA, the
    land of braves and opportunity. When I arrived in the USA, it
    was as if a dream had come true.Here at last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I
    would be staying in this country for about Five years in which
    time I would have earned enough money to settle down in India.

    My father was a government employee and after his retirement,
    the only asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.

    I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling
    homesick and lonely as the time passed. I used to call home and
    speak to my parents every week using cheap international phone
    cards. Two years passed, two years of Burgers at McDonald’s and
    pizzas and discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange
    rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went down.

    Finally I decided to get married. Told my parents that I have
    only 10 days of holidays and everything must be done within
    these 10 days. I got my ticket booked in the cheapest flight.
    Was jubilant and was actually enjoying hopping for gifts for
    all my friends back home. If I miss anyone then there will be
    talks. After reaching home I spent home one week going through
    all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting
    shorter I was forced to select one candidate.

    In-laws told me, to my surprise, that I would have to get
    married in 2-3 days, as I will not get anymore holidays. After
    the marriage, it was time to return to USA, after giving some
    money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after
    them, we returned to USA.

    My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she
    started feeling lonely. The frequency of calling India
    increased to twice in a week sometimes 3 times a week. Our
    savings started diminishing.

    After two more years we started to
    have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, were gifted to us
    by the almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they asked
    me to come to India so that they can see their grand-children.

    Every year I decide to go to India… But part work part
    monetary conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting
    India was a distant dream. Then suddenly one day I got a
    message that my parents were seriously sick. I tried but I
    couldn’t get any holidays and thus could not go to India … The
    next message I got was my parents had passed away and as there
    was no one to do the last rights the society members had done
    whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents had passed
    away without seeing their grand children.

    After couple more years passed away, much to my children’s
    dislike and my wife’s joy we returned to India to settle down.
    I started to look for a suitable property, but to my dismay my
    savings were short and the property prices had gone up during
    all these years. I had to return to the USA…

    My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to
    stay in India… My 2 children and I returned to USA after
    promising my wife I would be back for good after two years.

    Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an
    American and my son was happy living in USA… I decided that
    had enough and wound-up every thing and returned to India… I
    had just enough money to buy a decent 02 bedroom flat in a
    well-developed locality.

    Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is
    for the routine visit to the nearby temple. My faithful wife
    has also left me and gone to the holy abode.

    Sometimes

    I wondered was it worth all this?

    My father, even after staying in India,

    Had a house to his name and I too have
    the same nothing more.

    I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.

    Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing.
    This damned cable TV has spoiled our new generation and these
    children are losing their values and culture because of it. I
    get occasional cards from my children asking I am alright. Well
    at least they remember me.

    Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors again who will
    be performing my last rights, God Bless them.

    But the question
    still
    remains ‘was all this worth it?’

    I am still searching for an answer……………..!!!

    START THINKING

    IS IT JUST FOR ONE EXTRA BEDROOM???

    LIFE IS BEYOND THIS ….., DON’T JUST LEAVE YOUR LIFE ……!!!!
    START LIVING IT …….!!!
    LIVE IT AS YOU WANT IT TO BE ……!!!

    Regards,
    Anand

    Thanks Anand Ramanan

    Note.my son is a Software professional