Inflation, Of How An Economic Theory Became A Global Nightmare.
Inflation. A word you have heard being used during discussions, a word you have used to write your commerce papers or rant about it in general. Do not worry; none of it is your fault, and neither are you, the first generation that has felt that you have much money and no money at the same time.
Money itself is a very strange thing; it can take years of hard work to earn good enough for yourself and your needs in an increasingly consumerist economy, but the truth is, no matter how much you complain about how comfortable it would be to leave all of this behind and live in the Himalayas like a hippie saint, the truth is you would need to cover some basic expenses there as well, so you cannot escape from money even there, so you can drop that idea from your bucket lists of things to do in this life.
But you do not need to be discouraged as well when your parents or older relatives tell you that they could enjoy an ancient Greek emperor’s feast for just 20 rupees back in their day; inflation was still there, it was not flung around as a term so casually back then, plus whenever you narrate about the past, your memory does a very strange thing, it glosses over the hard details and instead paints a very romantic, nostalgic image when in fact that past was only marginally better than the present.
In fact, inflation was happening in the BCs as early as Alexander the Great’s reign, with a full-on price revolution happening somewhere in the 16th century. Currently, Venezuela is the worst-hit country from this disease, with an annual inflation rate of 833, 997%, so you can reach out to the nearest calculator and check how significant of a figure that is( to calculate in Indian terms and using dollars as the standard figure of calculation, it would amount to slightly over 5 billion Indian rupees, which would propel you to the Ambani, Adani billionaire club and take care of at least your next 3 generations)
Inflation happened in Germany as well in the early 1920s, with the German mark being so worthless( 1 trillion mark was equal to 1 dollar) that it was used like a toy by children. However, Germany was soon to be mesmerized and ruined by Svengali, like Hitler. Hence, it was two long decades of torture for a nation that was famed for its Stoic, manly bravery, producing both artistic geniuses like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and military Bravehearts like Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, for the first time the artistic man and military man were judged so equanimous in a society, so not all was wrong with Germany, which like Japan, taught the world the value of excellence.
Should India be currently scared of inflation? According to the latest Forbes report, inflation is currently on the lower side, so no threatening conditions are forming but India needs to have strong companions that could help it in tough times, the USA has never really helped India that openly, except to grace our Republic Days but India needs to be aware of the ongoing Russia-China friendship.
While Russia has always been a historical friend of India, right now it has better relations with China, which has been a persistent thorn in India’s since since both nations got independent. The advice India can take from China? It should develop the manufacturing sector more which would lead to better exports, less imports, thus ensuring a balanced Forex balance and more employment opportunities. It does not matter if the cat is black or white as long as it catches mice, as Deng Xiaoping used to say.
