High Cost of Poverty?

An interesting article in the Washington Post, titled "The high cost of poverty: Why the poor pay more"
The author tries to highlight the fact that the poor are unable to reap the "whole sale" benefits that the supermarkets and retail giants offer. A reverse trend is seen however in developing countries . For Example: An upcoming release of Microsoft's OS , Windows 7, has an edition specifically targeted for emerging markets. Microsoft and other companies have been doing this for quite some time now where they strip off features from the main product and sell a bare minimum version at a relatively lower price.
This process is evident in other industries too. Indians have been sachet lovers. From shampoos to jams and ketchup, Indians will prefer spending "a little" to get "a little". Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect at Microsoft, is said to be inspired by this piece meal concept as he introduced the various software editions targeted at Indians.

India vs China

It is Democracy vs Communism. It is time to get back to the text books and refresh the basics and also evaluate the same wrt to India and China. It is time for the debate, "The future belongs to India, not China".

My guess is that either the debate is going to be inconclusive or there is going to be a narrow victory margin. I am not keen on the results but I am looking forward to the various perspectives and view points that the participants are going to bring to this debate. What intrigues me the most is that both these nations, with their billion plus population, have been able to "efficiently" run their economies.

Tata Does it again

After a small car, it's a small home from the Tata.

It is quite easy to dismiss this initiative as yet another capitalistic corporate venture and overlook the macro-economic growth and long term sustainability. The brilliance of the plan is clearly reflected in selection of the location for this venture.

What next can we expect the Tatas? In the lines of Roti kapda aur Makan, the latter has been already initiated.

Now imagine this : The small home owners (from Boisar) to work (to Bombay) in their small cars (Nano). [Thats how much my boss used to travel to work in NYC from his home in southern Jersey.] Lets hope that the TATAs build a high speed highway connecting the town to the city.