Can't Buy Me Growth

What can £100bn buy? Economic growth, if we are to believe in Mr. Osborne’s £100bn plan for UK economy. If previous quantitative easing programmes have not done that, I wonder what will make this round succeed.

To be fair, quantitative easing can help liquidity and encourage consumption, which would buy us some time. But will that be enough? I think it can do little to revive the economy if not backed by comprehensive changes in government policy. The government will have to make more changes to attract business investors, encourage entrepreneurs, foster innovation, and improve industrial productivity. If not, the government will soon find out that love is not the only thing that money cannot buy.

Roar

I believe that to grow is to live. The effort to achieve growth, however, often demands hard work and sacrifice, and there are no guarantees for success. So, I have been asked, if there is a possibility to be happy without doing anything in the present moment, why should anybody work for growth. People argue that life is short and uncertain, and no matter what we do, ultimately most of us will die to be forgotten. They ask that even if we are remembered, does it make any difference. So, going by this logic, it seems that postponing today's happiness to tomorrow in hope of getting more does not look like the best bet. Indeed, if there are no guarantees and there is no happiness to be had either now or tomorrow, what is the point of working? Not much, from this point of view.

So I have learned that it is natural for any human being under the influence of this twisted logic to despair and not desire growth. The basic problem, however, with the argument presented above is that it assumes that the pursuit of growth is working for happiness in some abstract, flimsy moment in the future (this life, after life or other life: whatever one believes). That is not true.

I think growth takes place when one does what makes him happy and aligns it with personal learning. The day to day actions need to align themselves with happiness while keeping growth in perspective. But that can happen only when one is working towards what he thinks he would love doing.

This brings us to a fundamental question: what do we really want? Do we even want anything? Finding the answer would need self-introspection, experience, maturity and self-awareness. Over time, one learns to leave behind what one’s parents/society/siblings/wife/children/friends expect him to have, what one would like to show off to people so as he can feel successful, or even what one thinks is the "right" thing to do. Then, what one finds is what one would love to do.

This process of self-discovery, unfortunately, is seldom easy. It is not in the nature of human beings to generally seek answers to these questions unless they have had the good luck of having a realized spiritual Master in their lives or the bad luck of facing back-breaking adversities. A good place to start is to try to understand what one does NOT want and what one is NOT. Ultimately, self-awareness can be a powerful guiding force and can bring a lot of stability in life. Otherwise one is condemned to a lingering dissatisfaction with what one possesses AND with what does not possess, keeping one firmly attached to misery with a teasing promise of impending everlasting happiness (and they lived happily ever after?) that never really materializes.

If one despairs, it may help to remember that the essence of life is cyclic. A good event cannot exist without a bad one, and vice-versa. It is extremely hard, if not downright impossible, to control events. One cannot change the hand that nature deals, but one can decide how to play it. Cribbing and crying won't make things better: it will only waste time (the cribber’s and that of anybody who has to hear his cribbing) and will hinder progress in life. Strength is life, weakness is death. As a great saint said once, arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached. Don't beg, don't crib. Demand for the highest! Don't bleat like a helpless sheep, stand up and roar...

For the crime of success

Recently, I have been reading a lot about the rising inequality in the US, its possible effects on the upcoming presidential elections, and even fears about the same happening in the UK.

I have two points to make.

Firstly, economic equality, as much as anybody may want it, is an ephemeral chimera that at best can cause frustration in the society and at worst lead to birth of a mediocre, self-annihilating socialist state. Even communists, with all the bloodshed and programs, were unable to achieve it. Are we really thinking of achieving it in an apparently capitalistic society? Nevertheless, we can (and should) aim for absolute equality before law and possible equality of opportunity for everybody, without fear or prejudice. That means making corporate lobbying and graft difficult. It also means making employment laws more meritocratic and employment process more transparent. It does not mean demonising the successful and ramming down their throat socialist taxes for the crime of being successful.

Secondly, it will be a mistake to make the current state of US economy a matter of class-warfare or a matter of punishing corporate America in the upcoming election. In the end, it is corporate America that will create jobs. Instead, the public of Unites States needs to do extensive soul-searching to understand what is blighting a great country. Is it really just greedy corporate? Easy answers are seldom right. If the country of democracy and free-enterprise is held hostage to things like corporate lobbying, excessive litigation, disintegrating social fabric, and a new-found worry about equality, something has gone wrong horribly somewhere down the line. Discouraging industry will only make it worse.

As unions and score of people cry out for good jobs and better pays, I am almost tempted to ask them to pluck it from the bush they think it grows on. Successful people make the jobs possible, demonising them is the worst possible thing that the society can possibly do to itself.

About VAT

Some useful links for understanding VAT and importing services, specifically for a services company.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD1_029955&propertyType=document

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/managing/international/exports/services.htm#2

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/managing/international/imports/importing.htm#3

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/forms-rates/rates/rates-thresholds.htm

Bank Mergers in Europe?

I agree that tighter regulations and worsening economic climate may lead to bank mergers in Europe: http://on.ft.com/rS5PEO

Other news clips of interest for this week:

WPP acquires Glover Park Group

BHP puts diamonds division up for sale

Free Accounting Software

Following free accounting software are available for small businesses:
http://www.icebergo.com/
http://www.tassoftware.co.uk/products/tas_accounts_software/basics.html
https://www.bionicbooks.com/
http://www.sage.co.uk/softwaresolutions
http://www.adminsoftware.biz/software.html
http://www.quickfile.co.uk/
http://www.vtsoftware.co.uk/cashbook/index.htm

If not Capitalism, then what?

Going through the recent articles in the FT by Ken Costa and Martin Wolf got me thinking: if not Capitalism, then what? In fact, it has been quite some time that I have been reading anti-capitalist articles all over the media and it makes me wonder: how many protestors actually understand what they are protesting against?

If they are protesting against the current system, we are in a continent that has a strong welfare system, difficult employment rules, strong unions, high taxes, generous pensions, and subsidised access to education & health. This is not capitalism, just ways to live beyond our limited means. We live in a system that has increasingly made it difficult for entrepreneurship to prosper, as pointed out by Luke Johnson. A system of greed and entitlement, be it banks, governments, unions or the people, has led us to where we are.

If anything, I would argue we need more of Capitalism if there has to be prosperity. I would argue that in today's world China is more capitalistic than Europe, and the results are for everybody to see. At the same time it is undeniable that comprehensive regulations, fostering a culture of ethics and a well-aware population are necessary for free enterprise to flourish.

Finally, I would like to say that while free-market played its part, it is absurd to blame it for everything. If the West was living beyond its means, are businesses the only ones to blame? Perhaps not, but they do make a convenient target. The truth remains that, given all things equal, Democratic Capitalism produces more prosperity and equality than systems like Communism, Socialism, Monarchy, Theocracy or any other system that the protesters may know about. The big question is still this: if not Capitalism, then what? Reform, not revolution, is the way ahead.