I had taken a decision to not criticize the Prime Minister, as it is futile to do so. But I couldn't hold back when I read the inanities he mouthed yesterday regarding inflation management. The article is produced below, with my comments within brackets,
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today expressed confidence that inflation would come down by the year end - (And he took care to not mention how much it will come down to. Well, even if it comes down by 0.0001%, he can claim credit for it!!!!)
Talking about inflation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said the meeting he had held last Saturday with top officials, including Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, RBI Governor Subbarao and PMEAC C Rangarajan was aimed at discussing steps that could be taken to check price rise.
"The purpose of that meeting was to explore ways and means of how we can bring about a moderation in the rate of inflation," he told journalists accompanying him back home from Pretoria after a three-day visit. - (This inflationary trend started in 2007. And he is holding a meeting after 4 years to 'explore' ways and means of how to bring it down!!!)
The purpose of that meeting was to "understand from the experts in the Government of India the various forces which are at work, which have been fuelling inflation, and how we can bring inflation under control," the economist-Prime Minister said - (Now it gets better. Government is, finally, trying 'understand' the various forces at work!! And this guy is 'supposed' to be an economist!!!)
Giving an overview of how the government planned to curb inflation, Singh said, "we have several instruments, the monetary policy instruments, the fiscal policy instrument, public distribution instruments. We have to use all these instruments together to bring about credible price behaviour." - (My dear PM, any one who knows the basics of Macroeconomics knows about these instruments. Why, even my MBA students knows about this. The problem is Monetary policy instruments have not worked, as evidenced by the failure of 20 odd interest rate hikes in the recent past. Our interest rates are nearing the 1991 high!! Less said about the fiscal policy, the better. Government has failed to control wasteful expenditure, has taxed anything and everything, and its fiscal and revenue deficits have raised at an alarming rate. It will take 5-7 years to bring the deficity under control. Finally the PDS- Congress party has been responsible for systemmatically destroying the PDS system in the country through 1990's and 2000's. In most of the States, with the exception of Kerala, TN and West Bengal, the PDS is in shambles. Again, streamlining the PDS distribution system cannot be done overnight. It took Congress party 15 years to destroy it, and you can well imagine how many decades it will take to rebuild it. The long and short of it is that you nor your high flying economic team, who sit in ivory towers like Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has no clue as to how to contain inflation)
Asked when an impact of these measures could be felt, he replied, "Well I am confident by the end of the year you would see some positive results."
He said factors, both on the side of demand and on the side of supply, have led to "an inflationary environment" - (And pray tell us, WHAT these factors are? This is a typical bureaucratic reply, that there are 'factors', without naming them, which one would expect from an 'economist' PM)
The international environment has also not been very helpful because of the energy price rise, and the fact that the exchange rate has recently depreciated, Singh said, adding that complicates the task of controlling prices.- (Of course, of course. When you dont have a clue, blame energy prices and exchange rate, both of which common man has no clue about. But the Energy Prices are high because you have taxed them to the eyes and beyond leading to higher inflation, while exchange rate depreciation is a direct result of an economy on crutches, and because we are just not exporting enough. And why are we not exporting enough? Because the inflation and higher interest rates have made our production non competitive!!! Inflation leads to higher wages, and higher interest rates pushes up the cost of capital. Even a kid knows this)
On criticism of the RBI's monetary policy, the Prime Minister refused to comment, saying it would not be proper on his part as the subject is the "preserve" of the Reserve Bank.- ('Preserve' of RBI, my foot! RBI Governor doesnt even breathe without the consent of the Government. Who is our PM trying to fool?)
One has to learn from Manmohan Singh to learn how to mouth absolute meaningless rubbish inanities
