How the housing bubble could have been avoided.

After the bust in the US stock market in 2000, the US economy has shown a different and quite unpredictable behavior. I say unpredictable because USA has avoided a recession; a miracle!

Having easy credit availability is one thing and using it to further a better economic development of the nation and its citizens is another. The past few years have shown that easy credit is just being diverted into real-estate and not much into research and development or in weaving the growth fabric of the nation. Consumerism is an important component of a progressive and developing nation. To give an analogy, no student will be motivated unless s/he can see her/his work being appreciated and eventually rewarded. Similar is the economy and development of a nation, it cannot advance if people don't buy things and give that added(capitalistic) push and motivation to the people who work in innovative companies and contribute towards the progress of the nation and its economy.( Let's keep aside the Military and Security rational for spending on R&D)

While US believes much in Keynesian economy, unlike UK. It is to be noted that the research and development of each country is on par, though USA is having a lead(slowly losing its grip on that status) compared to any other democratic country in the word. So does that mean that a Keynesian economy is the underlying reason for this progress.

One thing is clear, when an economy goes bust, people go into a thrift mood, and even if there is profligacy, it will be towards a more secure and guaranteed investment. After the 2000 stock market bust, Alan Greenspan made the interest rate the lowest and it can be seen that people were ready to spend but only on very safe investments, like the real estates. Eventually making it the most unsafe investment.

So, how has Mr.Greenspan helped the economy? The intention of lowering the interest rate is to spur the economy. Why is USA economy still a laggard? And why is there a housing bubble, a bust of which sends shivers through the spines of all the economists. Would it trigger the next recession in the USA, and thus a global recession as the world is tightly clasped by various economic policies?

I personally feel that the Fed chief, Alan Greenspan, should have restricted the interest rates for more productive and innovative activities. It is debatable, though, if that would have laid the foundation for future prosperity, but it definitely wouldn't have created the housing bubble. The misallocation of money reminds me of the property bubble in Japan during the 1980s and the recent South Asian property bubble of 1997-98.

A nation should try to invest in ideas that adds value to its citizens life and eventually to the nation and not build dead walls with the "Savings Glut".

Divine Chants of Ganesha

Diverting away from Economics and Democracy, recently I was listening to an audio CD called "Divine Chants of Ganesha". After having listened to it n-number of times, I couldn't resist writing about this wonderful audio. It's a beautiful Fusion music woven with the core Mantras of Ganesha wrapped in a reverberating voice of Uma Mohan. I am sure the experience of this audible will euphorically transcend any listener into an ethereal plane where you can feel the command of Lord Ganesha( at least a few songs are definitely so). Uma Mohan's voice is perfectly suited to recite the chants from Vedas.

Anyone who feels that the Hindu ritual chants are boring and monotonous should listen to this audio, it will make you reconsider your opinion about the chants, and you will want to sing along with singer. The music is aptly suited for the current generation who are always on the look out for something different.

Initially when one listens to Ganapati Ghanapaath, it appears to be the most complicated recitation on the earth. Thanks to our Rishis/author(s) for using mathematics and putting a pattern in it. Anyone who is good at math can take it as a challenge and try to figure out the patterns in this mantra; it's a mind refreshing excercise. For those who get an adrenaline rush when they listen to the "Ganapati Ghanapaath" from this audio and want to learn the complicated recitation, the following link explains the patterns, Ganapati Ghanapaath Pattern

Finally, for all those "Ganesha" lovers who want to learn the lyrics of the songs(mantras) in this audio, here is a site that has most of them, Ganesha Mantras.

(Thanks to Vijay Sharma for introducing me to this audio, and to Purvi Shah for pointing me to the above links of Sanskrit documents and pattern)