Inquilaab Zindabad

Down with the dictatorships in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Maha bidrohi rana klanto,
Ami sheidin hobo shanto,
Jobe utpiriter krondon roll akashe batashe dhonibe na,
Ottacharir kharga kripan bheem rana bhume ranibe na…

(The battle-fatigued rebel
I will only rest,
When the cries of the oppressed no longer reach the sky,
When the sound of the oppressor’s scimitar no longer rings in the battlefield…)

- Kazi Nazrul Islam (25 May 1899 – 29 August 1976).

Originally posted at A-A-A.

On food inflation

Rising inflation is a major, perhaps the most important, economic issue facing Bangladesh. As fellow blogger Amer noted back in May: inflation up, government down. We touched on inflation in here and here. As is widely noted, recent rises in inflation are driven by food prices. In this post, I cover two possible reasons why food prices in Bangladesh continue to rise. The first one is macroeconomic, and I show some charts as evidence. The second one is microeconomic, and I have only anecdotal evidence in its support. As always, looking forward to a good discussion.

More at UV.

15 August revisited

He is the absolute leader of his people. He has led them through war, and now he is trying to steer them through peace. But all is not well, and our leader is forsaking liberty, assuming dictatorial power. Meanwhile ambitious politicians are plotting. The leader is assassinated, by his trusted friend, who says – it’s not that I love him less, it’s I love my country more. But it is soon evident that the conniving politicians are seeking power for themselves. The dead leader’s ally raises arm. Havoc, it is cried, and let loose are the dogs of war. Out of confusion arises a new strongman with a new order. Liberty takes a back seat for many years.

Austrian days

Some time ago, I read this joke that, quite scarily, I found funny.  In addition to the real business cycle — negative technological shocks — and Keynesian — fall in aggregate demand — stories of why recessions happen, there is also the ‘hangover theory’.  The story of recessions in this theory goes like this: in the beginning, there is loose money that leads to bad investment, at some point the easy money runs out and the day of reckoning arrives, and the painful adjustment process is what we call recession.