Comments on: Hjalmar Schact and Germany’s Recovery from World War I

By: Prabal Sen

Prabal Sen — Mon, 18 May 2020 07:56:41 +0000

Sir, thanks for sharing. fascinating and absolutely topical. Thanks to Wg Cdr Thomas.
Aping the Brits and now the Americans have gone too far for too long. The out of reality elitist approaches in economics and general administration are leading us nowhere. Most of these so called elites are products of clones of British or American Universities. Their toolbox of American text book solutions do not fit the near crisis situations in Indian agriculture, industry or even in the field macro economics.

By: J Thomas

J Thomas — Fri, 15 May 2020 07:05:25 +0000

2997Easy, you have compelled me to ponder over this. A brief comment will not be enough. I will have to write a full article.

Lockdown 4.0 has been promised. We need to look at Lockdown (n+1).

By: colls

colls — Sun, 10 May 2020 13:50:43 +0000

Well done
says 2333 CSM
EASY me
open sesame……

I am nearing 80 this July
all say hold on we will celebrate your B’day
more also increase in Pension 15 PERCENT Do help us please .
lol I stay inside doors
crawl on the floors
YOGA they say will help me
I prefer crawling
keeps all ”ungs”
FIT

By: Brig Anil Adlakha

Brig Anil Adlakha — Sun, 10 May 2020 07:58:30 +0000

Very interesting!

Anil and Sunita

By: 2997 Easy

2997 Easy — Sat, 09 May 2020 15:05:25 +0000

In anticipation, we have already tightened our belts.
The car has not moved an inch since 19 March 2020
The driver says he will get bored to death if he has to sit all day. He has left, and is busy with the small piece of land in his village.
The gardener has gone back Bihar. Now we water the plants with a pipe. Some plants have died (corona casualty)
We have given up fish; the only non-veg we ate till the Corona
There is a general ban on buying anything other than groceries and fresh food
We are growing some things at home : salad leaves, spring onions, pudina, dhania and tulsi etc
We are ready for a pension cut. In Urdu they say,
“आता है जो तूफाँ आने दो
कश्ती का ख़ुद हाफ़िज़ है
मुश्किल तो नहीं इन मौज़ों में
कहीं तैरता साहिल आ जाये !
(Maujon means waves and saahil is the bank of the river/ocean)
So, no fear!
2997

By: Lt Gen Kapil Aggarwal

Lt Gen Kapil Aggarwal — Fri, 08 May 2020 17:17:55 +0000

Very well researched article. I think Schacht may have been a pioneer in devising ways and means of financing development activities at national level while having a system which effectively postpones the payment of bills; what the author has aptly termed “kicking the can down the road”. In modern times, US has mastered this technique…the most developed nation is also the nation most in debt. To tackle the corona pandemic, Trump has already given a fiscal stimulus of the order of 10 times the US GDP. In India, our policy makers are very conservative, probably weighed down by the international rating agencies breathing down the neck. So the challenge in our context is to give financial incentives for production and manufacturing so as to reduce unemployment and tackle poverty while innovatively raising funds whose repayment is spread over many years. Time for another tranche of Sovereign bonds/NRI Bonds? We will soon get to know the prescription !!.

By: Dushyant Singh

Dushyant Singh — Fri, 08 May 2020 13:54:05 +0000

Hi Tommy , I am most impressed, I didn’t know your hidden talent.
U r a warrior Intellectual now.
Well researched n well done,
Congrats,
Dush

By: Maj Gen Manmohan Singh

Maj Gen Manmohan Singh — Fri, 08 May 2020 12:31:28 +0000

A great research!
Thanks
Manmohan

By: Sriram Jayasimha, FNAE

Sriram Jayasimha, FNAE — Fri, 08 May 2020 11:26:39 +0000

Sriram Jayasimha

Dear General,

Thanks for this. I however think the rot in the Indian system precedes the pandemic, so getting it “back on rails” seems out of question. But opportunities do abound.

Since independence, we have favoured opiniated punditry and sophistry as compared to quiet individual action (and due rewards to producers in the economy). Also, the frenzy with which we have expanded our “cities” (really semi-slums) drawing migrant labour from the hinterland was waiting for a natural or man-made calamity to reverse (and fortunately that has happened). My hope is that they obtain improved health and by working the fields with dignity. Our agricultural output needs to increase and our consumption of exotic imported foods (such as edible oil) need to decrease. I also hear of plans to partially re-employ this workforce to improve rural infrastructure (and that is a good thing).

As consequence of the pandemic, government babus will likely become dis-empowered.. They had choked private industry for decades and their expansion needed to be stopped anyway (and this calamity might have done just that). They should be the first to be discharged as public finances collapse and, hopefully, they will also play a part in rural revival as their city jobs disappear. The service sector consisting of accountants, lawyers, financial “industry” employees, restaurant and hospitality workers will also decline.

Last, we are an overweight (yet poor) nation with chronic levels of lifestyle-related disorders (such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes). Hopefully, this disaster, together with reduced pollution levels, will improve public health in the medium-term. We might just have to thank the pandemic for bringing about a transition to healthy and outdoorsy vocations!

Best wishes.

Sriram

By: Dave Sood

Dave Sood — Fri, 08 May 2020 09:04:05 +0000

Respect your reply.
We always do take a solution and apply blindly.
We have over 10 million workers roaming around on the roads to reach their homes. We could not plan any better.
Moving this elephant will require new thinking out of the box applicable to India.
Good to know you are enjoying yourself in Canada. The best country to live in. Just read that in the paper today.