Cost of Healthcare - Which country stands out?

According to a recent article published in the New York Times the United States spends about $2.7 Trillion in health-care. Thats close to about $7000 per person per year and far more then any industrialized country. But according to the article, this higher spending does not always translate into better health-care or better outcomes for patients.

The article explores how the various special interest groups including physicians, medical device manufacturers and the media driven by profit motives have been complicit in the rising cost of health-care in the US.




Image obtained from The New York Times

Whats in a Name?

The saga of renaming "Bangalore" to "Bengaluru" continues. It has been two and half years since the idea was first floated. I wonder if there will be any difference in the lives of the common man once this rechristening occurs.

Also is the name change worth all the tax payers money and man hours that are being spent on this effort when the same money can be used to tackle other urgent issues like the cities crumbling infrastructure.

Read more at Bangalore to Bengaluru

Also read my other Whats in a Name? post.

So Much for Free Speech

So much for the constitutionally guaranteed right of Freedom of Speech. You Watch and decide





Link obtained from Churumuri

The Race to be Called Backwards

Andre Beteille, professor emeritus of sociology at the Delhi School of Economics, writes in the Telegraph about how and why castes and tribes are vying to be classified as Scheduled Casts and Scheduled Tribes

Read the complete article Castes and Tribes

Link obtained from Churumuri

Why Oil Prices Should Remain High

Jaithirth Rao, in his column for the Indian Expresssays that we should all root for higher oil prices. As ridiculous as this may sound, economics suggests that high oil prices are necessary if the world is to move away from a carbon based economy into a more alternative energy economy. If the world wants to see any development in alternative energy technologies, then oil prices need to remain high to spur this development.

Read the column at Those Empires of Carbon

Al-Hurra - The Free One

If your first reaction to this is "What?", then you are not alone. Al-Hurra meaning "The Free One" in Arabic, is a news channel broadcast from the United States into 22 countries in the Middle East. And the surprising thing is, it is sponsored by the US government by US taxpayer money.

60 minutes had a report yesterday on how the channel which was started in Feb 2004 and was supposed to be an alternative voice for Al Jazeera in the middle-east, is going through a credibility crisis due to bad management and lack of proper oversight.

Read the complete 60 minutes story at Al Hurra

OffShore Drilling for Oil a Political Hogwash

With oil prices hitting record highs of $4 a gallon in the US, President Bush and presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain have joined hand and are calling on the US Congress to lift the federal ban on offshore exploration and drilling along the coastal regions of the US and possibly the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Aside from the obvious impact this will have on the environment and marine life, this policy is misguided and short sighted. According to Energy Information Administration, the proposed offshore drilling plan would not have any significant impact on oil prices in the near term and it would take 20 years for any benefits to be realized. So my question is, if it is going to take 20 years to explore more oil, why not invest those 20 years in investing and exploring renewable energy resources. Wouldn't this be a much better energy policy?

But as Justin Wolfers in a recent commentary on Marketplace put it, "Political discussions always seem to focus on the noisy complaints of those who lose". And in this election year, pandering to the constituents who make the most noise and imposing a unfeasible short term fix to ease pain at the pump seems to be the order of the day. Surely, this may help in gaining a political advantage in the short term, but a better alternative would be to look at the long term, make some hard decisions and try to find solutions that will permanently fix this problem.

U.S. lawmakers want Mandela off terror list

This just shows how flawed the whole terror list created by the United States is. If Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, an anti-apartheid activist, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 1993 and a symbol of freedom and equality ends up on the list, then what about ordinary citizens like us?

Read more at Nelson Mandela on Terror List

Thackeray calls for Hindu suicide squads

In order to combat the menace of Islamic terrorism, Bal Thackeray has come up with an ingenious plan. He is advocating the creation of a Hindu suicide squads. In an editorial published in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, Thackeray said "The threat of Islamic terror in India is rising. It is time to counter the same with Hindu terror. Hindu suicide squads should be readied to ensure existence of Hindu society and to protect the nation."

My questions to Mr Thackeray are these. What is the guarantee that these so called Hindu suicide squad will not kill innocent, peace loving Hindu citizens?. How can killing innocent Hindu civilians, even if they are collateral damage, protect Hindu society and the nation? What gives him the authority of creating such a force that is going to kill innocent civilians, be it Hindus or Muslims? If Bal Thackeray is seriously advocating the creation of this Hindu suicide squad, then what is the difference between him an Islamic terrorist organization?

If Bal Thackeray is really serious about protecting Hindu society and the nation, he might want to spend the rest of his life in constructive ways like helping alleviate the causes of farmers suicides in Maharashtra's Vidharbha region.

Read more at Thackeray Advocates Hindu Suicide Squads

Zimbabwe's Inflation

With inflation in Zimbabwe running at 100,000%, this dinner bill for one person in the Victoria Falls Hotel illustrates the realities that ordinary individuals face on a day to day basis





Also read my previous post on Zimbabwe

Sorry State of Other Indian Sports

While millions of dollars were spent on individual players in the just concluded Indian Premier League, the first 20-20 tournament of its kind in cricket, the condition of other sports remains deplorable.

In the recently concluded Santosh Trophy, which used to be the premier soccer tournament until recently, players were paid Rs 450(about $10 a day) for their stay, food and other expenses. This just goes to show the kind of encouragement that sports other then cricket receive in India.

With the kind of step-motherly treatment of other sports, it is no surprise that when the Olympics come, we do not end up on the winning side. By any chance, if we win a single medal, it is made out to look like we have conquered the whole world. Politicians line up to facilitate the winner and everything is forgotten within a few days. I am pretty sure the script is not going to change much after the Beijing Olympics.

But as always after every Olympics, we just hope that it will be a different story in the next Olympics. And every four years, our hopes and dreams are dashed. But unless we make a significant investment in developing, nurturing and professionally managing other sports, winning in the Olympics would be something which we will have to just dream about and hope that it comes true.

Meet Mukesh Ambani - Indias Richest Man

New York Times had a excellent article on Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in India.

Why Americans are in Love with Bottled Water?

Americans love their water. But most of the water they drink does not come from the tap , but from a bottle. An interesting and enlightening article published in the Fast Company magazine highlights how the good old drinking water put in a bottle has become a symbol of ostentation, culture of indulgence, and a fashion statement.

Here are some quick facts to consider

1. Americans spent more money last year on bottled water than on ipods or movie tickets: $15 Billion
2. 1 billion bottles of water are moved around a week in ships, trains, and trucks in the United States alone.That's equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers delivering water.
3. Fiji Water produces more than a million bottles a day, while more than half the people in Fiji do not have reliable drinking water.
4. Last year, Americans drank 28.3 gallons of bottled water per person more then coffee, milk and beer combined and second only to soft drinks which stood at 52.9 gallons per person.
5. If the water we use at home cost what even cheap bottled water costs, our monthly water bills would run $9,000. This says a lot...

Not to mention the harm and pollution that these billions of bottles cause to the environment....


Read the complete article Message in the Bottle

Hillary Clinton and NAFTA

Watch Tim Russert grill Hillary Clinton on NAFTA in his trademark prosecutorial style.




With the death of Tim Russert today, the world of political journalism will not be the same again.

Watch other memorable Tim Russert Gotcha moments

Nandigram and the Communists of West Bengal

Martha C Nassbaum, has a very informative article about what happened in Nandigram and why it happened. The article was published in Dissent Magazine. Read the article at Nandigram

Also read my previous post on the Nandigram Dispute

Tale of the Open Man Holes

What can I say about this. Just read on

Appalling State of Healthcare in India

This just goes on to show the appalling state of health-care in in India. This is just unacceptable. If India has to join the ranks of the developed countries in the world, basic delivery of health-care needs to be the first priority and fixed. India's Current GDPof $1 trillion is meaningless if every citizen in the country doesn't possess basic access to health-care.

With this happening in Mumbai, it makes it all the more ironic and leads to further questioning of the state governments decision to build a Shivaji Statue at the cost of Rs 20 billion.

Should we bet long on public transport?

Robert Reich, in a recent commentary for Market Place, explains why betting long on public transport in the US is such a good idea, what with oil at $4 a gallon and all. But the problem is the current system of public transport is not designed to handle the growth in ridership because of depleting infrastructure and lack of enough money to upgrade it.

Read the complete commentary at Lets Get Serious about Public Transport

Also read Robert Reich's blog

Difference Between a Conservative and a Liberal

If you want to know the difference between a conservative and a liberal, watch this interesting exchange between George Will and Stephen Colbert





Link obtained from Gaurav Sabnis

Think You Are Paying Too Much for Gas? You Must have not visited Turkey

You think that gas at $4 a gallon is too much, think again. People in Turkey pay about $10.15 a gallon. How's that for gas prices? And people in Venezuela pay about 20 cents for a gallon. It would be fun right now to be in Venezuela,if you agree with Hugo Chavez and his socialist ideology.

What to find what some of the other countries pay, then Click On this

Link obtained from Churmuri

All's Well in Maharashtra - Lets Build a Shivaji Statue?

In a satirical piece published originally in the Marathi newspaper Lok Satta, Kumar Ketkar the editor, talks about how everything is hunky-dory in the Indian state of Maharashtra, the state is a model for economic development, how every citizen of the state is satisfied and the government providing the ideal administration.

Due to this ideal environment, the government has decided to spend Rs 20 Billion of valuable taxpayers money on a statue of the great Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

Alas, if only whatever Kumar Ketkar says in the article was true. With so many ills plaguing the state of Maharashtra , farmer suicides being just one of them, we have to question the state governments decision on whether the Rs 20 Billion of taxpayers money is well spent.

Read the complete translation of the article in english at All's Well in Maharashtra

India Increases Fuel Prices

The ruling coalition government in India increased the fuel prices substantially today, with petrol costing Rs 5 more, diesel costing 3 Rs more and LPG which is used for cooking costing Rs 50 more.

In today's world of high oil prices, this price increase though substantial as it may be, may not go far enough in helping out the beleaguered public oil companies in India. According to some estimates, they are losing about Rs 1930 billion rupees by artificially keeping the price of petrol and diesel low, and another Rs 550 Billion rupees by offering subsidies on LPG and kerosene.

Also the government should seriously consider getting out of the business of fixing prices for commodities that are so volatile, and whose prices are not just influenced by supply and demand. The government should let the market forces fix the prices for these products as it would be good for the economy in the long run.

Read a good article arguing Why the Government should not fix prices of fuel

Let the Race to Visit Godmen Begin

According to a recent report in the Times of India, newly appointed ministers in Karnataka are in a rush to pay their respects to the God-Men (Priests). Here are a few examples
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K S Eshwarapa had visited Chamundeshwari temple and Kaginele Kanaka Peetha. Vishveshvar Hegde Kageri, who stayed in Bangalore, had sought the blessings of Balagangadharnath Swamiji.

B N Bache Gowda said he had to visit every temple, mosque and church in his constituency as his followers were keen on that. He also visited his family deity Channakeshava of Vijayapura.

S K Bellubbi toured his constituency and visited some mutts, while S A Ravindranath was on a two-day pilgrimage and returned only on Monday. Krishnaiah Shetty had come back from Tirupati.
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These acts have turned the age old saying "Janata seve, Janardhana seve" - meaning serving people is like serving God, on its head. In todays political equation, God-Men always count first, and people who elected these representatives do not count until it is time for the next election.

Read more Mantris Serving God Men

Oil Prices are High - Why?

M.R. Venkatesh in a recent article published in Rediff tries to explain the reasons for the high oil prices. According to him, the current record high oil prices are a result of speculators creating an artificial demand, thus pushing oil prices higher.

Read more at Why Oil Prices are High

Also read a counter point by Paul Krugman who thinks the current high oil prices are more a result of supply and demand mismatch.