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Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() | Re: Understanding Economics My initial years in USA, I worked via TCS. The medical insurance they provided was very suspect. For example, if you go to the doctor, and show your TCS issued insurance card to the doctor's secretary, she would tell us to pay using cash/card and then recover it from the insurance company. Once my colleague had a gym accident, and broke his shoulder. At the ER, he had pay $2000, and spend many months to get it reimbursed partially. When I fell sick once, the doctor at a nearby private clinic looked at my insurance card, took pity and gave me free medicine from his sample. He even waived the fee since it was my first visit there. ![]() Anyway, once I started working for a startup, things changed. I got a very good family medical coverage. It even had zero co-pay (zero deductible). The significance of it didn't occur to me until I saw reactions at doctor's office whenever I presented the insurance card. They would do a double take every time, and even wave it to their colleagues saying it is zero co-pay. When my son was born, we had access to the best of facilities. In fact, a year later the Governor's wife gave birth in the same facility. This basically underlines the fact that good medical coverage is possible in USA, only if you are financially well off. I have been on both sides of it. How could this keep going on in the richest country in the world? This is why socialist democrats are winning elections in USA. |
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BHPian Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Bengaluru
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| Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
The same linked article quotes [emphasis mine]: Quote:
Probably in the detailed regulatory filing, Starbucks mentions what is the median hours of working for a part-time barista, but till we know that we can't make a judgement. Further googling leads me to this 2016 article: Quote:
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I am not commenting whether the overall package is good or bad; just putting out a few facts on the table. | |||||
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BHPian ![]() Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: bangalore
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| Re: Understanding Economics Jeez, reading all the opinions about the US of A, I feel that I should quit on my L1 quest. It seems to be a sad place to live, even sadder than India. This in spite of all those people in tiny boats braving rough sea to set their foots in the American soil. Well, I don't see any starbucks employee wanting to flee from America and take refuge in Cuba where they boast of free healthcare, free food, free college, free everything. Another country called USSR who provided free everything collapsed a few decades ago. And now one dumb Ocasio Cortez talks about paying people "unwilling to work" and there are people hailing her as a economics whizkid. I still don't get the fascination of wanting everything free. I thought we all wanted to live on our own terms and money. After all what right do I have to someone else's money even if he was born more privileged than me? And giving free stuff to the "needy" is a disservice to those people who worked their way to prosperity. |
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![]() | #409 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Kolkata
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| Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
Notwithstanding everything that is wrong with India, we have still found it in ourselves to roll out a universal health insurance scheme targeted at the urban as well as the rural poor. Its not funded by tax rupees alone, but also in partnership with other private and public agencies. Of course challenges remain in terms of implementation, continued funding etc, but its a start and it means that the correct discourse exists in India wrt such issues. I think it is a no brainer that some social safety net needs to exist, especially a medical one, what with rising health care costs and the fact that medical and education continues to be two of the biggest contributors to inflation, at least in India. Perhaps this discourse exists more in India given the sheer numbers of the poor and how long it has taken us to make progress on this front, that lets say the US, where getting ahead and a consumerist lifestyle is valued more. Neither approaches are wrong and depends on the existing economic conditions of that nation, but the fact that Amazon faced such backlash and had to opt out of NY indicates that there is a social issue which perhaps is not being addressed. | |
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Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() | Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
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I have two sons, one is 18 and normal, the other is 12 and autistic. The autistic one will never be an useful member to the society, he will always be a dependent and will even require constant supervision all his life. Still, 3 of remaining family members spends most of our spare time caring for him and a big portion of my income goes towards his treatment, and has forced my family to live in Bangalore for his treatment while my company is in Udupi. If I think like a businessman, I should be doing very little for him. But I am thinking like a parent, so I practice socialism at home, and take care of the weak and the needy first. A good society is the one which takes care their elderly, needy and the weak. It is no different than a family, where dependents like grandparents and children are treated well even though they earn nothing. That is why a good society can't think or run like business, then only the well earning minority will enjoy while the rest of them live in poverty. Last edited by Samurai : 19th February 2019 at 12:13. Reason: typo | ||||
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BHPian ![]() Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: bangalore
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| Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
Am not particularly sad at the way the Amazon thing panned out. It is only fair for the state to not provide concessions to a business. That is crony capitalism. Quote:
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Distinguished - BHPian ![]() Join Date: May 2010 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
It's so easy to favor a 'capitalism-forever' system when one has basically been born into privilege. (And if you're on this forum in the middle of the day, typing in English, you are very privileged compared to the majority of people the world over.) Not so easy otherwise. Last edited by am1m : 19th February 2019 at 11:46. | |
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Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() | Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
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They are illegal aliens, they have no rights there. I was talking about US citizens, who are supposed to have more rights than you and I. Quote:
That's the idea, but inflation doesn't let it work that way. In practice, the current workers really pay for the pension of their retiring seniors. My dad's pension was much higher than the salary he used to make when he retired. The nationalised bank he used to work for didn't have pension scheme when he retired. So there was no kitty. But 2 years after he retired, they introduced the pension scheme, and gave him the option of joining by paying a nominal fee of 2L. He joined it and then got pension for 20+ years. In the final years, he was getting 2.4L/year in pension. After his death, my mom still gets about 1L/year as family pension. | |||
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Senior - BHPian ![]() | Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
What you have stated (which I had quoted in bold) is very true, though. As has already been elucidated by you elsewhere, there has to be a safety net for all the (less able) citizens, and it should be funded by those who can contribute (especially when they are at their productive phase). And, as observed by am1m, it is not easy for those less privileged, unless we willingly pay our taxes, AND it percolates down to the bottom of the pyramid. (I would hazard a guess - how many would have willingly given up the 'fuel subsidy' for LPG, even if it hardly makes a difference to them? Each action like this has a domino effect - and the benefit doesn't get passed on to the needy). While the intentions of a (socialistic) Government seems to be bring in these changes, I feel the bureaucracy takes care of its own first than the ones who they were meant to serve; as a result, the actual benefit reaching the target population is much lower than what ought to have been. Very true. If we learn to count our blessings, things will be better off for us and those around us. Last edited by vrprabhu : 19th February 2019 at 13:28. Reason: Grammar / spelling | |
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BHPian Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Bengaluru
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| Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
But I still oppose the concept of defined pensions. Because the government is paying pensions it will not be able to invest in infrastructure or new jobs. Pension to the old is at the cost of the younger people who need jobs. One person can easily be given a job with my mother's pension. Socialism always favors those who are already inside the system, those who are already privileged. And that is why UBI like solutions are better. Every citizen over 60 should get a basic and equal pension, whether they had a job earlier should not matter. Last edited by DigitalOne : 19th February 2019 at 13:46. Reason: Added a point | |
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Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() | Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
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People often doubt socialist policies while viewing it from a capitalistic lens. So it is very easy to find fault. I am paraphrasing what happened in USA: Trump: I will give a $1.5 trillion tax cut. People: Yeah.... that's great!!! (We don't really need it... But we love it!) Bernie: We should provide tuition free college for all Americans. People: Wait, where is the money coming from? Bernie: By not giving the $1.5T tax cut and use that money? People: You are a crazy old man who doesn't understand economics. Bernie: ![]() Last edited by Samurai : 19th February 2019 at 16:07. | |||
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BHPian ![]() Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: bangalore
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| Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
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BHPian Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Bengaluru
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| Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
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Things like free medical coverage or college education leads to needless implementation problems. For example, should an alcoholic smoker be given free medical treatment for diseases caused by his/her choices? How long should medical treatment continue for terminal/vegetative cases? Should college education be free for a course which is not considered "useful" for the society? Who decides what is "useful"? | ||
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Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: LandOfNoWinters
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| Re: Understanding Economics Quote:
1) Human beings are emotional creatures 2) Emotional creatures give out emotional responses and outbreaks when they find something "unfair" 3) It is in the self-interest (life safety reasons) of every human being (whether they economically privileged/useful or not) to keep the people emotionally positive 4) Human beings, by nature, are extremely selfish, and social concepts and etiquette (including the definition of fair and unfair) have to be taught from young age using carrot and stick technique What you suggest will work well once everyone starts raising their children based on pure self-interest driven economic calculations and not based on social norms. Last edited by alpha1 : 19th February 2019 at 18:26. | |
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Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Bangalore
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