[download2live]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

The below context is in the US, but it probably is worse in India:

Attachment 2046617

source

These are the companies who have profited massively from the people shifting to online shopping and more people working from home.

And I see no issues with that. Insiders in retail knew that in coming 5 years more people will shift to online purchases. Caronavirus has just brought that forward.

Regarding Mom and Pop stores, anything which does not adapt and change does not survive. This is hard reality. And no amount of talk over it can change the cold reality of numbers.

People working remotely is however a new reality brought on by Caronavirus. Given the massive savings companies are making in terms of reduced rentals I do not see this trend reversing. People who just sit at desk can actually work from home. And people like it.

Here many companies are shifting to two days in office and three days work from home model.

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by download2live

These are the companies who have profited massively from the people shifting to online shopping and more people working from home.

And I see no issues with that. Insiders in retail knew that in coming 5 years more people will shift to online purchases.

These tech companies also control a vast amount of media either directly (Jeff Bezos owns Washington Post, one of US leading newspapers) or indirectly (control what people see in their news feed).

People also consume more social media or digital content (Netflix, Amazon Prime...) when they stay at home.

In short, they have a vested interest in increasing panic/anxiety, and in continuing the lock downs. Lock downs are fatal for small businesses but who cares!!

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

The below context is in the US, but it probably is worse in India:

Attachment 2046617

source

The post would've made even better sense if it also showed the employment/unemployment numbers.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

We've had the most stringent lockdowns in the world in the early stages of the Pandemic that helped buy some precious time for the Pandemic fighting infra to be built from ground zero and it served its early purpose.

I'm sorry, that we used the early lockdowns well to ramp up medical infrastructure is simply not true.

Here in Bangalore at least it was pretty obvious from the news reports and what we saw happening all around us that most of the ramping up, even large-scale testing started in earnest only after the case load started shooting up and certainly not during lockdown 1.0, 2.0 whatever. Just check when the covid-care centers started functioning.

We imposed one the strictest lockdowns in the world yes, it helped suppress the caseload while it was in place yes, but did we use the time well? Speaking from observations in Bangalore I don't think so! Especially considering the inconvenience (for those like most of us with the resources) and downright hardship (for the majority of our countrymen, those without sufficient resources) suffered during that period!

It's not that anyone from the government will be held accountable for that anyway. But at least let us not cloud our collective memories of what actually happened.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by am1m

I'm sorry, that we used the early lockdowns well to ramp up medical infrastructure is simply not true.

Here in Bangalore at least it was pretty obvious from the news reports and what we saw happening all around us that most of the ramping up, even large-scale testing started in earnest only after the case load started shooting up and certainly not during lockdown 1.0, 2.0 whatever. Just check when the covid-care centers started functioning.

We imposed one the strictest lockdowns in the world yes, it helped suppress the caseload while it was in place yes, but did we use the time well? Speaking from observations in Bangalore I don't think so! .

Absolutely spot on. And to add to your observation, the lockdown and little else phenomenon is not restricted to Bangalore, the economic backbone has been broken across the country.

A simple self diagnosis should help: I ask myself what if I was told back in March that despite the initial 2 month lockdown, and of course the repeated iterations now being seen in most states, we would still be at 3 million+ cases in August? At least we could have saved us the economic misery that is unfolding gradually but of course, isn't sensational enough for our dim witted media to focus on.

Loss of livelihood means a surrender of power, as people who may have recently achieved social ascendence slide back and years of toil and accumulation of economic gain is frittered away, the political class gains in this exchange. It's already business as usual for them, with petty scandals hogging the limelight and elections to look forward to.

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

We've had the most stringent lockdowns in the world in the early stages of the Pandemic that helped buy some precious time for the Pandemic fighting infra to be built from ground zero and it served its early purpose.

If you believe this, there's this marble house in Agra that I'd like to sell you.

[for_cars1]

Although there are numerous reports and on going instances of exploitation and medical cost ripoffs and lack of care faced by COVID19 patients, I believe that there was a genuine effort to ramp up on mask, PPE kits, ventilator production, and the initial lockdown did buy the nation some additional time by slowing (not stopping) the spread of infection.
Definitely agree that extended lockdowns is not the solution for this problem, a cure is the need of the hour.

[download2live]

We should have looked at the south east asian countries which had seen the Bird Flu (SARS) epidemic. The learnings which they got served them well in tackling this current pandemic.
Masks make a difference. And preventive measures do go a long way in curbing the speed of the spread.

Regarding the economy, it was already in a poor health before the virus stuck. Here 2019 was the weakest Christmas retail season. The salary growth was so low that many retail shops closed up before the pandemic stuck.

We have been postponing the inevitable ecomony wise. If we look at past the 2000 dot com bubble was basically money trying to find high growth sector. And after the bust that same money found its way into Real Estate in America. And after that crisis Fed has been simply printing money (QE) and that money went to the Stock Markets again. Just see the S&P returns over last 10 years.

I think a major change in economy is needed. We have to stop depending on making people consume more by making things cheap. But what is the alternative? I do not know.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by download2live

I think a major change in economy is needed. We have to stop depending on making people consume more by making things cheap. But what is the alternative? I do not know.

Well, all GDP growth since industrial revolution has been fanned by consumerism. So there is no going back.

We either should accept that busts and bubbles are going to happen at regular intervals (because of human dichotomy of optimism and pessimism) and a small section of population will profit from it, while a large section will stand to lose everything in each of these cycles.

Or we should be prepared for Authoritative intervention (like Govt/Central bank etc) to smoothen these cycles, but also accept the fact that this will lead to the already rich and privileged getting richer and more powerful with each of the interventions.

[kiku007]

Source:

https://twitter.com/bhatia_niraj23/s...811610624?s=20

https://twitter.com/bhatia_niraj23/s...65491811610624


H Vasanthakumar, the Congress MP from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari who died on Friday after contracting the coronavirus, had flagged the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic in parliament earlier this year, suggesting measures to tackle the crisis, only to be interrupted and have his mic cut off.

"Speaker sir, we have to announce a national disaster due to coronavirus affecting the whole nation. A zero-revenue situation will definitely impact the repayment of loans. I urge the government to reschedule the loan payment of small businessmen and individuals at least for three months," the lawmaker had said during a session in March when parliament was still functioning.

"Daily wagers have been adversely affected. I urge upon the government to pay a minimum of Rs 2,000 per family..." he said, before Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked another lawmaker to speak.

As Mr Vasanthakumar was seen requesting one more minute to speak, going on to suggest a waiver of the Goods and Services Tax, Mr Birla asked Trinamool Congress's Saugata Roy to take over, telling the Congress MP with a smile: "Mic bandh (off)"

I guess that sums up what needs to be said.

[Cessna182]

Fake news consumers are perhaps rejoicing the fact that India is now setting world records with respect to the number of cases. Even ministers inagurating temples were spotted without masks recently. Ministers from the Ayurveda ministry tested positive and got treated through allopathic means.

I am pretty sure that the folks who believe that India has already become a superpower because it was one 5000 years ago will be ecstatic, but I just received the news that many states have stopped giving pensions to their ex employees who served for over 40 years. They cannot pay their medical bills even. And we see no mention of all this in the media. Teachers who were sent to households to collect covid samples have not received payments (of salaries, not other allowances) for months. I guess an actor's suicide matters more these days than the collective plight of the millions, even in govt jobs, who are struggling to feed themselves. Even Brazil has fared better despite not being a true democracy. The fake news mafia and its subscribers are accelerating India into a pitious state.

PS: someone I know who is more than 80 years old cannot buy medicines because of this, so this is a personal experience. Even insurance doesn't cover most 80 year olds. It's just tragic how the citizenry is being hollowed out, and some folks are celebrating the curtailment of govt. expenditure. I personally work in the private sector, and have no connection to the public sector except relatives who are struggling now. It is absolutely ironic that you have the money to buy a 8000 cr aircraft for the PM but not pay pensions to people who barely depend on that 10-15k a month to buy medicines and food.

[volkman10]

Tata Motors not to give increment and deducts variable pay for FY21

However, the company stated that there will be no reduction in the fixed pay of the employees.

The announcement comes at a time when the company has a net automotive debt of INR48,000 crore and plans to bring down the debt in the next three years.

Link

[raksrules]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Tata Motors not to give increment and deducts variable pay for FY21

However, the company stated that there will be no reduction in the fixed pay of the employees.



Link

I work in an IT company and I have a strong intuition that for us too variable may not be given next year (usually given in March month salary).

[Dry Ice]

The latest numbers released.

~24% contraction in April-June numbers YoY.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 23.9% in April-June period quarter, official data released by the Union ministry of statistics and programme implementation (Mospi) showed on Monday, amid coronavirus pandemic-induced which hit businesses and livelihoods across the country.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...6QNL0jpBL.html

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Hayek

We will see a headline print of something like -25% for the April - June quarter - please note that this is annualised QonQ growth - viz GDP for the quarter was 6% less than that for the previous quarter.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

+1 to that. I had not quite put a number in my head but -25% sounds right.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

The latest numbers released.
~24% contraction in April-June numbers YoY.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...6QNL0jpBL.html

This sounds like the numbers Hayek put out in May this year. A 24% contraction in a quarter is a 6% negative annualized. Am I correct? I expect the current J-A-S quarter too to be in negative territory but less so, Q-on-Q contraction of 5% to 10%. For O-N-D I am expecting almost a break even but job loss (and consequent income loss) might keep it in negative territory. For the full year we are looking at something like ~ -6% to -8%. The official figure of 5.6% negative sounds too good to be true.