Re: [IAC++] Amazon shows :How FDI will raise prices by 10 times.

Vidyut

We are quite grateful to Col Nair for introducing the Price-Purchase-Parity factor into this discourse.

The $23,021 figure seems to be the cut-off line for the bottom 20% of US citizens. This means that the mid point at 50% (assuming its a bell shaped Gaussian normal distribution) would probably be about 3x that or US$ 70,000 (just a quick guesstimate - must do the math later). Assuming a middle class Indian (say Maruti factory worker making Rs.18,000 per month) So this probably means that the PPP factor is  US$1 really = INR 3 which is what Col. Nair arrived at.

So both of you are saying the same thing but talking past each other. Using this logic it seems that the Rs.25 per day poverty line Planning Commission figure targets the bottom 2% of the population only.

IAC recommends using banana slicers for the  creative purposes described by Mr Bobbit.

As part of its manifesto IAC demands that the topmost IAC babus (Cabsec, Sec DoPT,  PrSecPMO etc) must not receive gross emoluments more than 3 times the poverty line as determined by the competent Govt agency. (The present base figure is Rs. 80,000 p.m.)

Sarbajit

On Sun, Dec 16, 2012 at 4:26 PM, Vidyut Kale
<wide.aware@gmail.com> wrote:

I need help understanding your email.

On Sun, Dec 16, 2012 at 12:20 PM, pavan nair <pavannair1@gmail.com> wrote:

 It would be incorrect to directly convert the currency at market exchange rates. You need to use purchasing power parity or PPP rates which for India /US is done by a factor of 3. In other words the cost of the item is actually about Rs 80 which includes shipping which does not seem excessive.

It doesn't exactly include shipping. If you read the link, it is an add on item on purchases over $25 and gets added to the delivery for free - after you buy it.

 

Who needs a banana cutter anyway.

A matter of opinion. Have a toddler in the house, and banana slices (and the cutter) can be an interesting way to tempt the kid into eating a banana. God knows having a child means buying a lot of things regardless of "necessity". Also, for a family that eats a lot of fruit plates/salads/recipes... it can be a useful kitchen gadget. Technically you don't need to own more than one knife or pen. How many do you actually own?

 

The same mistake is made by most people while assessing the poverty line. The UNDP poverty line is $1.25 per capita per day. Most people assume that this is about Rs 60 per day which is incorrect. It is actually Rs 20 per day. So the planning Commission figure of Rs 26 per day in rural areas is actually an improvement on the UNDP poverty line.

This calculation does not compute. You are taking the UNDP poverty line and applying it to the US dollar parity. Well the US does not have a poverty line comparable with anything recognizable in your post. To my knowledge, the last known poverty line at $23,021 for a family of four, computes to about $15.7 a day. Which would be a brilliant idea for India even with parity factored in. Or wait, even half of that would be a brilliant idea

 

Col Pavan Nair

I have observed that starting with agreeing with a government stand and picking reasoning and figures to suit usually leads to logical fallacies, because the government is illogical. Our poverty line is unsustainable. People living at twice our poverty line are just as likely to die of hunger. It is simply a game to decrease visible numbers and the culpability of misgovernance.

Just saying.

V

--
Vidyut Kale

aamjanata.com

Twitter: @Vidyut

Diaspora: vidyut@ilikefreedom.org

Facebook: http://facenook.com/theVidyut

Phone: Allergic

Telephone: Forget it.

Mobile phone: Forgot

WWW : http://indiaagainstcorruption.net.in
Post: iac@lists.riseup.net
Quit: iac-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net
Help: http://help.riseup.net/lists/