My confidence in the market is shaken!

Let me confess at the outset that I have been a lifelong free market entrepreneur. A heavy hand of the government has been an anathema to me and my core beliefs. Yet, the current financial crisis has given me a pause and a reevaluation of my fundamental thinking. I still vehemently oppose the communist-socialist logic but my confidence in the free market is definitely shaken. I was always aware of the inherent risk in credit card business, both for lenders as well as the borrowers. What shocked me most was the lunacy of the regular banks and their current lending practices. The mortgage market has been on the thin ice, I sort of suspected. What came as a total surprise to me was the selling of the risk by the regulated banks to the non-banking financial institutions. If a Bank of America, Citibank or J P Morgan Chase did some hanky-panky, I could understand that, but an ICICI Bank or an HDFC Bank in India taking such liberties was beyond my imagination. I have been quite familiar with the culture at the ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank in India. For these two banks to loose confidence of the depositors in favor of the State Bank of India is beyond my wildest imagination. This rare public sector victory of some sorts would have far reaching implications in Indian market and beyond. The Left-Parties in India are bound to throw this in Dr Manmohan Singh’s face. Just THINK about the collateral damage!

The ‘Left Front’ is a drag on Indian politics

Left Parties in India should be consigned to the dustbin of history. There are only three countries left on this planet who still consider communism or socialism as a viable political alternative, and these are Cuba, North Korea and now Venezuela. It is astonishing that an enlightened society like India still provides a forum to the twisted-logic of communism. The promoters of this failed ideology, Russia and China have moved-on, but not India. The dim-witted left-overs still dominate the political power in the sophisticated states like West Bengal and Kerala.