I mistyped the address to my blog recently and typed http://sparstgo.blogpot.com/ instead of http://sparstgo.blogspot.com/ and was surprised on seeing a Christian website turning up. My first thought was that my account must have been hacked but then I realized that I had mistyped. This brought me to the realization that my blog is a popular website. People are registering websites with minor changes to the address just to get website hits when someone is trying to access my blog. Finally I had proof of what I knew all along that Shriram Paranjpe is the great one (S Par s T G O).
PS: To be honest, I never did think that my blog was hacked because I know people have better targets and the first thing I did once I saw the spam site was to check blogpot.com and sure enough I got the same website (I call it spam not due to the content but because you get the same website for abcd.blogpot.com irrespective of what abcd is. This would not happen for a regular website). So, it is blogspot that they are trying to imitate, not my blog. But hey, it makes for a good story so why let it off.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Monday, August 01, 2011
Job creation 101
The recent debt debate in the US congress had several interesting viewpoints and many funny moments. I do not want to get into the minor details . I write because I got an excellent lecture in job creation through a comment on some news outlet by someone to the effect "The Government should shut down agencies like the EPA which do nothing but sap jobs". I began thinking about that statement and had a light bulb moment. Of course the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is job killing.
Think of all the jobs that could be created if the EPA were shut off. As with all great job binges, there would be a lull before the storm as some people will lose their jobs (EPA employees, private sector employees who ensure clean emissions and the like). But imagine the possibilities. As water bodies get more polluted, a huge industry will be created to purify water for human consumption. Tons of jobs will be created as there will be an immense demand for pure water. As fish in the water die, the demand for farmed fish will rise and jobs will be created in fish farming. Moreover, as water and air gets polluted, doctors will get richer and since the new term for the rich is "job creators", more jobs will automatically be created. Imagine the brightness this abundance of jobs will bring! I am sure I must have missed several other ways that closing the EPA can create jobs so feel free to add on to these in the comments section.
While we are at it, we should also shut off other job killing bodies like the OSHA (only the weakest would die due to bad working conditions - it is natural selection / survival of the fittest), the FDA (they are a drag on the food and medicine job market) and all other regulatory bodies and go back to the good old days of the robber barons. Ah! Those were the days when human productivity was at its highest.
PS: All of the above was an attempt at sarcasm. Please do not consider these to be my views.
For all my management friends, don't go wild with the comments on the economics behind the job losses that regulation brings. I do realize that regulation adds cost on industries and thus limits the money they can spend on investments that lead to job creation but we have to realize that they are externalizing the costs of taking care of the environment and when we buy a product that is cheaper but pollutes the environment (or is made with lead paint), we are paying the price for it (often much higher than the industry would pay since it will buy in bulk). It is important that this cost be internalized for them. We have to know where to limit the regulation and that is an area where everyone will have their opinions but to say that bodies like the EPA or the FDA do nothing is a disgrace.
Think of all the jobs that could be created if the EPA were shut off. As with all great job binges, there would be a lull before the storm as some people will lose their jobs (EPA employees, private sector employees who ensure clean emissions and the like). But imagine the possibilities. As water bodies get more polluted, a huge industry will be created to purify water for human consumption. Tons of jobs will be created as there will be an immense demand for pure water. As fish in the water die, the demand for farmed fish will rise and jobs will be created in fish farming. Moreover, as water and air gets polluted, doctors will get richer and since the new term for the rich is "job creators", more jobs will automatically be created. Imagine the brightness this abundance of jobs will bring! I am sure I must have missed several other ways that closing the EPA can create jobs so feel free to add on to these in the comments section.
While we are at it, we should also shut off other job killing bodies like the OSHA (only the weakest would die due to bad working conditions - it is natural selection / survival of the fittest), the FDA (they are a drag on the food and medicine job market) and all other regulatory bodies and go back to the good old days of the robber barons. Ah! Those were the days when human productivity was at its highest.
PS: All of the above was an attempt at sarcasm. Please do not consider these to be my views.
For all my management friends, don't go wild with the comments on the economics behind the job losses that regulation brings. I do realize that regulation adds cost on industries and thus limits the money they can spend on investments that lead to job creation but we have to realize that they are externalizing the costs of taking care of the environment and when we buy a product that is cheaper but pollutes the environment (or is made with lead paint), we are paying the price for it (often much higher than the industry would pay since it will buy in bulk). It is important that this cost be internalized for them. We have to know where to limit the regulation and that is an area where everyone will have their opinions but to say that bodies like the EPA or the FDA do nothing is a disgrace.
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