“WITH grain in our hands there is no need to panic,”

Costco and Sam's clubs across the country are limiting the bags of flour and rice that you could buy ! Unbelievable, but harsh truth !!

In the current modern world, we would never think we would live to see a famine.. so where did this sudden shortage of food come from ? Some really interesting articles on the net

The silent sunami, economist.. some excerpts below !!

.. Roughly a billion people live on $1 a day. If, on a conservative estimate, the cost of their food rises 20% (and in some places, it has risen a lot more), 100m people could be forced back to this level, the common measure of absolute poverty. In some countries, that would undo all the gains in poverty reduction they have made during the past decade of growth. ...

some interesting comments on root causes and analysis of this mess (not my own, but publicised feedback to this article)
1. For years, the US and some EU countries, in an attempt to maintain food self-sufficiency, supported the cost of farming through various subsidies. Because of this, food was dumped on the world market for less than it cost to grow. This destroyed the livelihood of farmers all over the world, from Canada to Brazil, Africa to, well, everywhere. The last few rounds of World Trade talks were beset by farmers protesting against these subsidies.
2. It seems obvious that the problem is simply and solely -- too many people.....Malthus reminds us that this is a self-correcting problem, via famine, disease and wars. It would be preferable to manage a reduction in numbers of people ourselves, but society hardly seems likely to embrace this as a direction we are likely to take.
3. Perhaps this is the issue that will test the merits and demerits (and/or phoniness) of globalization which did, and does, benefit considerably the WEST commercially. It could also test the West's ability, and will, to rein in the avarice and plain heartlessness of the so called (but predominantly Western) multinationals who, inter alia, favor and amply recompense, the plantation of coffee beans in Africa for export over corn and wheat for daily sustenance). That, reining in the multinationals and whatever is done by the rich and over abundantly endowed WEST, if substantial at all would be , however , NO act or acts of charity. It could turn out to be the historically preordained due repayment for resources past plundered from the non WEST!
4. There is no shortage of food, at least not yet. The problem is that there are too many poor people that can't afford to buy it. Farmers grow enough food, but they can't afford to sell it for less than it costs to grow. The US and Europe used to subsidise food production and this forced down the price for all farmers while, inadvertently, making food affordable to the world's poor. Now, with ethanol, those subsidies are gone; food is being sold for what it costs to produce. That's a good thing, except that now a lot of people can't afford to buy it.

Finally... this comment nails it " Capitalism doesn't work when 1/6th of the world doesn't have enough capital to participate. That's the problem, and there's no easy solution".

Outsourced Wombs : $444 Million Industry Opportunity - you don't want to miss !!

Why is it Ok to buy lot of cheap life-less products from overseas, where as it is not OK to buy live products (aka Babies).

For all the wall-street economists, global enterpreneurs, and possible movie makers too (remember Chicken run!) out there, here seems a NY Times story line with a 444 million dollar industry burgeoning that will show the true strength of globalization !!

I as an Indian-born American enterpeneuer, see a golden once-in-a-life-time opportunity here, and can't believe it's so similar to IT success stories. I surely needs to get in before those Chinese get their hands in to the pot here. Here is business plan (don't copy it!!), but will be glad to join hands with any venture capital firms (Hello, Palo Alto!)

1. Open my company, BABYSYS immediately

2. Do a massive recruiting drive in India

Basic qualifications, simple ! will have be to be a woman of 20-40 yrs with an empty womb (last time we counted there are atleast close to 100 million out there so poor and bored wondering how to make money - so we don't see any supply shortages!).

3. They will be assigned projects of 12 months-duration, 9 month active (on-womb) at our location & 3 months bench period (off-womb) back at their home, before they comeback for next project.

Our consultants will meet the overseas client's most stringent requirements (for eg foods, activity, type of hollywood movies to watch etc..) to ensure the final deliverable, aka a bouncing baby, meets their expectations above & beyond delivered on-time.

4. Our Unique selling proposition (USP) will be that we will provide ut-most level5 quality product.

Some of the key initiatives will be for example, exceeding multi-vitmamin nourishment standards as recommended by FDA, on-site random inspections by specialist medical teams. Consultants will have incentive strucuture that pay for performance, eg deliver twins etc. they get paid bonuses, where as if they miscarry, they're fired !

5. Client service : will be our motto !

all overseas clients will be submitted with glossy portfolios of available consultants prior to the engagement we commit to product delivery on-time, monthly online status and project progress reports, and ofcourse a fine bubbling deliverable that comes certified at the end of the project duration.

6. We could also offer additional Premium features

- Silver clients will get fancy color charts of ultra-sounds, access to web-site that shows live video, audio & vital signals ; Gold client will be arranged face-to-face session with consultant during engagement ; Platinum clients will get unlimited visitation rights, and consultant will travel overseas to meet face-to-face prior to engagement. We could also plan post delivery support in terms of child & health care at a very nominal annual fee for next 2o yrs.

7. Competition : I can see soon on same model competition from

US-mulination corps like all-familiar BBM, BDS, Banture etc., and ofcourse the ubiquitous Chinese, Russians etc.. but I do think there is enough of pie out there for every one of us, especially looking at the projections of infertility trends in US and other G-7 countries.

Don't you see another great global trade success story !

BTW with regards to morality in this, c'mon folks does anyone any more care ?

We, the collective world, in the name of development, world trade, globalization have come sofar down this slippery slope that we don't and can't even want to think about moral issues.

Materialism and brutal capitalism at any cost will only seem to win... there seems to be a price for everthing including mother's love, and morality of course, will always be good to discuss on blogs or discussion boards. (Sorry for being cynical !)

"When a man dwells in his mind on the object of sense, attachment to them is produced. From attachment springs desire and from desire comes anger. From anger arises bewilderment, from bewilderment loss of memory; and from loss of memory, the destruction of intelligence and from the destruction of intelligence he perishes" - Bhagavad Gita

2008 - the tipping point ??

Let's get started in new year with some excerpts from an excellent article "How much is $38 Billion ??" recently published by Eric Fry from "The Rude Awakening" Newsletter.

Facts :

• As we end year 2007, Wall Street's five largest brokerage firms will dole out a new-record $38 billion in year-end bonuses.
• "Shareholders in the securities industry are having their worst year since 2002," Bloomberg News observes, "losing $74 billion of their equity."

  Check the stock performance of these companies to see how they well (or worse !) they did (GS, MER, MS, LEH, BSC) . Now you decide what in the world would deserve such a bonus payout !!

• As recently as ten years ago, the bonus pool for New York City's finance-company employees totaled less than 90% of the net income of NYSE brokerage firms. Today, the relative size of the bonus pool has doubled to about 180% of net income....

Now you know where to find a job for yourself, or if you are too old (like me!) to start a new career, at least you know where to look for putting your Kids to work !

Ok, let's see "How much is $38 billion?" in real perspective..

1. $38 billion is three times more money than the entire world spent on humanitarian aid last year.
2. $38 billion is twice the sum necessary to provide basic health care to every child in the world, and three times the sum necessary to provide clean drinking water to every child in the world.
3. $38 billion is seven times more than the annual budget of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), America's principal agency for cancer research.
4. And here is the kicker .. it is more money than Wall Street's five largest brokerage firms – combined – earned during the last 12 months. $38 billion is also more than the combined earnings of these five firms during all of 2004 AND 2005.

On the same token, let's compare it to some of annual world expenditures.

Did you know the world spends every year..

• $59 billion on golf ,
• $118 billion on wine,
• $794 billion either waging war or preparing to wage war.

"The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children...this is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of fire." - quote from President Dwight Eisenhower

Finally as Eric Fry puts it beautifully... The stewards of public companies do not deserve mega-million bonuses. Not once, not twice, not ever. They are the EMPLOYEES of public companies that are OWNED by the shareholders. They are not the lords of their domain with the right to tax the productivity of the shareholder/serfs. The era of the overpaid corporate stewards is corrupting and crippling American dynamism. Excessive compensation schemes like this only help to legitimize extreme socio-economic disparities. As such, these schemes work to squander the nation's collective "sweat," "genius," and "hopes"...just like warfare.

Kudos Wallstreet, I like where we are going .. Happy new year 2008 !!

Signinig off...

Happy Planet Index

Quote "The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered. This website introduces a measure of something more fundamental. It addresses the relative success or failure of countries in supporting good life for their citizens, whilst repecting the environmental resource limits upon which our lives depend. " (end-quote)

Now where would a developed country like US should stand on Happiness Index ? Top 10, or 50, ... no, at 150 ! (yes, at one hundred fifty ), now that compared to developing countries like Mexico at 38, China at 31, India at 61, Cuba at 6 (?). Now if that seems surreal, and doesn't feel right ! you should spend sometime on this http://www.happyplanetindex.org/introduction.htm.

Ofcourse, the rankings are not that important, but interesting is that this seem to highlight an important takeaway that "Happiness doesn't always necessarily correlate directly to the Wealth". I like their published global manifest as quoted from the nef website

Global Manifest of Top 10 list for a happier plant :

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Increasing social disparity systematically undermines opportunities for people in extreme poverty to build good lives for themselves and their families. There is an urgent need to redesign our global systems to more equitably distribute the things people rely on for their day-to-day livelihoods, for example: income, and access to land, food and other resources.
2. Improve healthcare.
The World Health Organization estimates that everyone in the world could be provided with a good level of basic healthcare for just $43 per person, per year.
3. Relieve debt.
4. Shift values. value systems that emphasise individualism and material consumption are detrimental to well-being,
5. Support meaningful lives.
6. Empower people and promote good governance.
7. Identify environmental limits and design economic policy to work within them.
8. Design systems for sustainable consumption and production.
9. Work to tackle climate change.
10. Measure what matters.

Surprise ?? As recent economist survey points out, the emerging world now accounts for over half of global economic output, measured in purchasing-power parity (which allows for lower prices in poorer countries). Many economists prefer to measure GDP using current exchange rates (which put the emerging world's proportion closer to 30%). But even on this basis the newcomers accounted for well over half of the growth in global output last year. And a barrage of statistics shows economic power shifting away from the “developed” economies (basically North America, western Europe, Japan and Australasia) towards emerging ones, especially in Asia. Developing countries chew up over half of the world's energy and hold most of its foreign-exchange reserves. Their share of exports has jumped from 20% in 1970 to 43% today. And, although Africa still lags behind, the growth is fairly broadly spread: they may be the most talked about, yet Brazil, Russia, India and China account for only two-fifths of emerging-world output....