"Inflation - The Apocalypse of Doom"

Inflation is the world’s number one problem. Some say that Inflation is the “rate” at which rich gets richer and poor becomes poorer. Governments are pretending to respond. The Indian finance minister says that western nations are diverting land for producing expensive bio-fuels to replace the expensive crude oil. Surely, that is part of the problem. But that does not explain the jump in the price of rice. Rice is not diverted to bio-fuel production.

I do not like to put the blame on other countries. They have their policies and should be able to do what they please. If the western countries want to convert cultivation land into bio-fuel fields, that is their problem. But we must remember that they would have taken measures so that the people do not suffer from lack of food. We should stop the political ballgame of blaming other countries for our problems. If we cultivate more food based on the requirement, we will never have to depend other nations for food.

Successive governments have paid lip service to developing agriculture. Now it is time for them to be voted out of office. The world is abcruel and competitive place. It’s time that we grow up and deal with reality of scarce resources and increasing competition.

We do need to remember and accept the fact that we have ruined our own money system because of politics, greed and debt. Bankruptcy can happen not only to individuals and corporations, but to nations as well.

Collapse of our currency is not new. All we need to do is look at the value of INR against US$ for the past three years and the picture is clear. We have more or less pegged our currency to the US$, and what has happened recently is that the value of the US$ has declined rapidly thanks to the increased money printing by the FED, and we end up importing US inflation.

The past and the present centuries are littered with examples, each one traceable to the same source - and cause - governments which began the syphilis of inflation by printing money unbacked by gold or any other value. No one with sense would doubt the fact that there is more currency in circulation than there should be. Effective means to prevent circulation and distribution of counterfit currency adds to the same.

Inflation has risen to almost 12%, and what has the government been doing to bring down the same? When inflation reached the recorded highs, the government and the politicians alike were trying to coverup through the N-deal, and were trying to hang on to power through surviving the vote of confidence. The opposition - instead of pressurising the govt. to take stringent measures to bring down the ever-rising rate of inflation, was trying to pull the govt. down.

Our governments have spent crores widely, borrowed insanely, piled up debts beyond believing and then used the printing presses to create more paper money and inflation.

When inflation is rising, where does an ordinary man stand? Most of the commodities, including foodstuff are priced in $ and the decline of the $ means that prices in terms of $ goes up. Each week, money buys less. This has caused individuals to follow the example set forth by governments, "Borrow Heavily". You may not agree with me when i state the above. Just think how many of you have been using credit cards for purchases? Is it not borrowing from the concerned bank by means of an easy borrow card? A huge debt if you do not pay the due amount in full when get your monthly satements.

For ordinary citizens, all hope is gone, the money game is over. Savings, pensions and fixed investments are becoming worthless. Some have ways to profit from general misfortune and they become tycoons. Some who are fortunate enough rely on mutual funds and make a short profit. But for how long?

Of course, in any broad-brush analysis or conclusions, there is the risk that we miss the exceptions who behaved differently and correctly. For example, within the constraints imposed by the political system, Reserve Bank of India has done a very good job of trying to shield the Indian economy from the cycles of boom and bust.

Right now, its every man for himself, a time to survive, for individuals to scramble for financial life belts.No one would want to believe that an apocalypse of doom is imminent, especially when it concerns our finances. But its true that our economy is crashing - heavily than ever.