It's been quite a while that I've updated by blog with a post, and very honestly I'm not very proud of the fact either it's just that life happened and I got or rather am still getting drifted along with it.
Some things are hard to digest!!
It's been so long and I've had some really great experiences that has touched me in ways that i can't even describe.
It's hard for me to digest that i'm growing up, that suddenly i'm expected to Act my age. Well i dont want to!!
Is it just me or has anyone else also felt that boy here i am , i know i can do so much but alas all i can do is only this, that feeling of not being useless but rather usedless!!. We all have our expectations from life, some want money, some want fame and very honestly i'm happy being who i am but still there is this void that seems to take over me when ever i sit and start to think about life and how it has turned out for me.
I've always believed and continue to do so that there are only two things that have the true power to corrupt a soul: Money and religion, and today I'd like to talk about the first one (second wala lets talk about it later on) Its a little different then the usual topics that i talk about but hey! i guess I am growing up!!
Economics was among my most favorite subjects in school. It's one of those subjects where having the right teacher makes all the difference, and i had the best one and probably this is the reason that i still like it.
So automatically any economics related news draws my attention.
And sadly due one or the other reasons haven't really been able to learn and know more about it, but some recent news has in a way re-kindled my fire and hunger for it.
LIBOR
For the ones who still live in the stone age, it stands for London Inter Bank Offered Rate. Basically its the rate at which 20 of the worlds biggest banks are ready to buy a certain foreign currency also referred to as Major Currency. Now i'll explain in brief how it works and then go on with the discussion.
So everyday at 11 a.m in the morning these top 20 banks send their quote (rate) to buy a currency to BBA (British Bankers Association). The BBA on their part remove the top 20% and bottom 20% of the rates given by the bank so that the effect of the extremes can be reduced ( remember mean, median, mode?? Shame if you don't) and then an Average in taken of the remaining. The resultant rate my friends becomes the LIBOR rate.
Now the reason why i've mentioned the Libor rate is because of the disturbing news i hear happening in the west.
Apparently Barcleys Bank is in the eye of the storm for allegedly rigging the LIBOR rate. Unconfirmed news tell me that they have been slapped a fine of $450 million ( that figure tells you how serious the whole jhol is). So a rate has been rigged big deal you may say but the consequences of this is giong to blow your mind. Analysts have arived at a figure between $450-$800 Trillion-- yes there's no typo error you read that right it T-rillion. You see LIBOR is the rate on which most of these really big floating loans are given and thus it means that all those transactions have actually been wrong.
Even as a kid studying economics I always thought that why in the first place are we using such a rate which as opposed to say a Government bond rate ( which btw makes more sense) as it is set by the market forces (demand & supply) and with the little insight that i have I've zeroed in on two things as the probable cause of this :
1) No scope for validation : See when Bank A says I'm ready to buy XXX amount at say YYYY rate there is hardly any validation as no actual transaction backs this and hence the banks can actually under quote or over. and hence lead to a different rate altogether.
2) Herd Mentality : It's interesting that the Banks still follow the LIBOR rate, it's a dinosaur if you ask me. but because of the influence that London has on the international market and well frankly cause a few of the banks are following it the rest tend to follow suit.
I think in the end it an Honor Business.
Basically if you can't be trusted for your word, never can you be tested with my money.
As I conclude this post I hear of the whole HSBC thing that's surfacing, apparently Money Laundering and Terrorism financing are the two new jhols that this one has ended up doing. more on that maybe once i get time to dig deeper.
Anyways that was that, now we talk about me experience.
See a lot has happened since my last post. People have left me only to be replaced by news ones, and still some continue to leave.
I've started to believe that when people say that you need to grow up what they really mean is be ready for heart breaks :(
I mean really we replace the thing that brought us thrills with things that actually are very superficial.
I think at a very broad level We are losing the beauty and grace that our civilization had. I mean look at it, more crimes, more corruption, more deaths, more disparity between the rich and the poor.
And I personally think there is no one solution and that a multiple attack strategy is the best solution we have.
Some of these solutions could be :
1) Education
2) Strong Values
1) Education
2) Strong Values
3) Lead by example
4) Fear of Punishment
5) Awareness
Now I'd like to discuss each of these solutions separately has it would be wrong that when it comes to finding a solution for my country I find an easy way out and not discuss it at length.
So untill next time i come back to post something here. Think about those points and how truly they can bring about the change we want.
Be the Change that you want to see in the world.
P.S : To the Few who read my blog, Thank you :) its the fear of letting you down that i keep coming back here to write. :) Thanks and much love.
