Reflections on India

dbs · Post by **dbs** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:22 am

greyfri;454528I'd still be a little wary of filing electronically at least for this year. Too many possibilities for glitches in a new system. Also, I'm wary of ID theft. The same possibility may also exist when you file FBARs by paper, of course, but this may increase the probability.

[On the whole, the FBAR data seems to be a gold mine for potential ID theft. ]

Are you thinking that this software has been developed offshore?:p

Imissindia · Post by **Imissindia** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:51 pm

boca2blr;462718So, you are implying something like: "Look, I told you that source#1 is not reliable. Now look at the contrary opinion from source#2, which is a similar source to source#1. Both sources are probably puppets that dance to their corporate masters' whims"?

Or, are you assigning a positive value for source#2 and a negative value for source#1? That would be inconsistent, when one has a negative opinion on the type of source to which both source#1 and #2 belong.

I don't give much weight to either of the two agencies. However those who do give them a lot of weight would consider the contrary opinion of another similar agency.
Having said that, this doesn't mean that these agencies are always wrong or that there is no truth ever in their reports. One must review them and even act upon them as needed but one needs to keep in mind that their reports are prepared to further the interests of their corporate masters. Sometimes those interests can coincide with what is good for us in India and sometimes they do not.

Imissindia · Post by **Imissindia** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:02 pm

Here is an easy way to see India's economic progress and the shrinking of the gap with the US:

In just 1997, India's GDP was approx 280 billion $ while US was 8.4 trillion. Approx figures- please don't quibble about +/- a little.
Hence at that time, the US was nearly 30 times bigger than India in total GDP.

After just 14 years, in 2011, India reached over 2 trillion $ while the US got to 14 trillion. Now the gap has shrunk to just under 7 times bigger for the US. If we look by PPP, then India is at 4.5 trillion and the gap is even smaller. We also know that the underground economy in India is nearly equal to the official one and hence the actual gap is even less than this.

This shows us that even though the US remains much larger, the gap has shrunk. Now, as we reach 5- 7 trillion by 2020 and the US reaches approx. 18 trillion, the gap would shrink to around 3x. China is at 6 trillion today and we can see the power they enjoy. No need to cry about reduced growth rates- at 8-9 percent we will reach approx 7-8 trillion by 2020 and if the growth is lower, say 6-7%, we will reach 5-6 trillion even then.
Of course we remain lower in per capita GDP but this is a good illustration of how things are changing.

KirKS · Post by **KirKS** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:52 pm

GCR;462651 Here in US you find a lot of people who have very little expectation from the govt instead are aware that they are the ones who can make the change. It is ironical though, considering that govt in US provides more to its citizens than the govt in India despite claims to the contrary.

Yes, US gives more to its citizen than India. But it is not like Americans have "very little" expectation from their government. In fact it is the opposite.

In India, majority of the rural folks expect freebees. They want free grains, loan waivers, no action on stolen electricity for irrigation, drought/flood package etc. They hardly care if the government gives them good governance. The sad reality is that they don't know much about good governance mainly due to lack of exposure into civic responsibilities and a fairly new republic. I read yesterday that 57% of MLAs/MPs from Bihar and 51% of MLAs/MPs from Maharashtra have criminal cases against them. I fell off my chair.. Even knowing Indian politics' weaknesses quite well, that number shocked me. When over half of your state's public representatives are crooks or "alleged" crooks, what kind of good governance you can expect? Other states are not much better off, but only relatively. This is brought in here mainly to convey that Indians are expecting a lot from their government on freebees, but not much on governance.

On the other hand, Americans may not be asking for freebees like India, but they demand a lot of good governance from their government. Take medical care, infrastructure, job creation or removal of troops from a war zone.. they are very vocal and very well organized.

Different societies.. different maturity level when it comes to GQ (Governance Quotient) and hence different expectations.

Helios · Post by **Helios** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:16 pm

KirKS;465628Different societies.. different maturity level when it comes to GQ (Governance Quotient) and hence different expectations.

Don't you know? A dysfunctional, chaotic, remote-controlled, puppet and "secular" government (that has a habit of providing freebies and making tall claims such as reducing prices in 100 days) is much better than an efficient, progressive and "unsecular" government. Especially if you are living outside of India and have no stake in the country.

Imissindia · Post by **Imissindia** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:41 pm

KirKS;465628Yes, US gives more to its citizen than India. But it is not like Americans have "very little" expectation from their government. In fact it is the opposite.

In India, majority of the rural folks expect freebees. They want free grains, loan waivers, no action on stolen electricity for irrigation, drought/flood package etc. They hardly care if the government gives them good governance. The sad reality is that they don't know much about good governance mainly due to lack of exposure into civic responsibilities and a fairly new republic. I read yesterday that 57% of MLAs/MPs from Bihar and 51% of MLAs/MPs from Maharashtra have criminal cases against them. I fell off my chair.. Even knowing Indian politics' weaknesses quite well, that number shocked me. When over half of your state's public representatives are crooks or "alleged" crooks, what kind of good governance you can expect? Other states are not much better off, but only relatively. This is brought in here mainly to convey that Indians are expecting a lot from their government on freebees, but not much on governance.

On the other hand, Americans may not be asking for freebees like India, but they demand a lot of good governance from their government. Take medical care, infrastructure, job creation or removal of troops from a war zone.. they are very vocal and very well organized.

Different societies.. different maturity level when it comes to GQ (Governance Quotient) and hence different expectations.

Charges are often made against politicians due to political reasons. Hence we need to separate convicted vs. simply alleged. On that note, plenty of US congressmen/women are also in the same boat (though not quite 50% but these are the convicted ones):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of_crimes#Executive_branch_2

Legislative branch

House banking scandal

[44]

[LIST=1]

Buzz Lukens (R-Ohio) convicted of bribery and conspiracy.[SUP][45][/SUP]

Carl D. Perkins (D-Kentucky) pled guilty to a check kiting scheme involving several financial institutions (including the House Bank).[SUP][46][/SUP]

Carroll Hubbard (D-Kentucky) convicted of illegally funneling money to his wife's 1992 campaign to succeed him in congress.[SUP][47][/SUP]

Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio) pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor campaign finance charge not related to the House Bank.[SUP][48][/SUP]

Walter Fauntroy (D-District of Columbia) convicted of filing false disclosure forms in order to hide unauthorized income.[SUP][49][/SUP]
[/LIST]

Congressional Post Office scandal

[50]

[LIST=1]

Dan Rostenkowski (D-Illinois) Rostenkowski was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, in 1995.[SUP][51][/SUP]

Joe Kolter (D-Pennsylvania) Convicted of one count of conspiracy [SUP][52][/SUP] and sentenced to 6 months in prison.[SUP][53][/SUP]
[/LIST]

Jay Kim

[54]

R2MyOldWorld · Post by **R2MyOldWorld** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:00 am

.....:))....

dbs · Post by **dbs** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:06 am

Imissindia;465665Charges are often made against politicians due to political reasons. Hence we need to separate convicted vs. simply alleged. On that note, plenty of US congressmen/women are also in the same boat (though not quite 50% but these are the convicted ones):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_federal_politicians_convicted_of_crimes#Executive_branch_2

Legislative branch

Mel Reynolds (D-IL) was convicted on 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography. (1997) Was later convicted of 12 counts of bank fraud. (1999) [SUP][40][/SUP]

Walter R. Tucker III (D-California) was sentenced to 27 months in prison in 1996 for extortion and tax evasion. (1995)

Barbara-Rose Collins (D-Michigan) found to have committed 11 violations of law and house rules stemming from use of campaign funds for personal use. (1997) [SUP][41][/SUP]

Wes Cooley (R-Oregon), Cooley was convicted of having lied on the 1994 voter information pamphlet about his service in the Army. He was fined and sentenced to two years probation (1997)[SUP][42][/SUP]

Austin Murphy (D-Pennsylvania) convicted of one count of voter fraud for filling out absentee ballots for members of a nursing home. (1999) [SUP][43][/SUP]

House banking scandal [SUP][44][/SUP] The House of Representatives Bank found that 450 members had overdrawn their checking accounts, but not been penalized. Six were convicted of charges, most only tangentially related to the House Bank itself. Twenty two more of the most prolific over-drafters were singled out by the House Ethics Committee. (1992)

[LIST=1]
Buzz Lukens (R-Ohio) convicted of bribery and conspiracy.[SUP][45][/SUP]
Carl D. Perkins (D-Kentucky) pled guilty to a check kiting scheme involving several financial institutions (including the House Bank).[SUP][46][/SUP]
Carroll Hubbard (D-Kentucky) convicted of illegally funneling money to his wife's 1992 campaign to succeed him in congress.[SUP][47][/SUP]
Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio) pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor campaign finance charge not related to the House Bank.[SUP][48][/SUP]
Walter Fauntroy (D-District of Columbia) convicted of filing false disclosure forms in order to hide unauthorized income.[SUP][49][/SUP]
[/LIST]

Congressional Post Office scandal (1991?1995) A conspiracy to embezzle House Post Office money through stamps and postal vouchers to congressmen.[SUP][50][/SUP]

[LIST=1]
Dan Rostenkowski (D-Illinois) Rostenkowski was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, in 1995.[SUP][51][/SUP]
Joe Kolter (D-Pennsylvania) Convicted of one count of conspiracy [SUP][52][/SUP] and sentenced to 6 months in prison.[SUP][53][/SUP]
[/LIST]

Jay Kim (R-California) accepted $250,000 in illegal 1992 campaign contributions and was sentenced to two months house arrest (1992) [SUP][54][/SUP]

They are kids compared to what we have here.

Imissindia · Post by **Imissindia** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:13 am

dbs;465672They are kids compared to what we have here.

Theekh hai sahib.

moneyIsNot_funny · Post by **moneyIsNot_funny** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:33 am

Here we go around the merry go around. Its good that when someone points out that we have 51% "law makers" having cases that makes them "law breakers" currently, we have to go all the way back to the 1990s (every single one of them) to attempt to even remotely justify them. Theek Hai. Life is good.