Obama, the Economy and India

The whole World is expecting 'Jesus Obama' to do nothing less than save the world (may be from the Americans themselves). Good luck. God Bless.

As some of his priorities I think Obama has to say sorry on behalf of USA to the thousands of Iraqi innocents and the American soldiers who were killed in Iraq because of the War started by USA there on false grounds and get the hell out of Iraq immediately. Then he should focus on putting the American economy in order and abolish lobbying in USA to prevent future fiascos.

He can also allow the United Nations Security Council to expand and remove the veto system there and promote adopting majority decisions in UN.

Speaking of putting the economy in order, how about the following for the banks in USA.

Get 51% stake in all the major banks for the money invested in them
As majority owner, get the Treasury nominees on the board of the Banks and may be CEO and CFO too, so the banks can be run tight
Fix ceiling on remuneration of top executives and introduce performance ratings which will govern pay increases
Limit the activities of Banks to basic banking and make sure they do not enter into exotic financial products
Write down the loans of poor home-owners affected by the sub-prime and housing crisis to match the capital pumped into these banks. For those who paid their mortgages honestly in the last 3 years, give a cash refund of the principal paid by them (which might compensate them for the fall of house value)
Give directions to the Banks for prioritising their lending to important sectors of the economy and make sure they actually lend.
Let the Hedge funds go bankrupt and let the shareholders take the loss.

If this all sounds like Socialism or Mixed-economy then let it be. After the runaway excesses of Capitalism, it may be the bitter medicine needed. If necessary they can get expertise from India which nationalised banks a few decades back and is still having an healthy dose of public-private sector banking mix with good regulation.

In a lighter vein it seems like the Americans may also have to take a leaf from Indian Banks’ famous (infamous) ‘Loan Melas or Loan Festivals’ if the Banks there do not come forward to lend again, inspite of all the funds they got as bailout from the Government.

Obama is all set to spend more than one trillion dollars to prime the pump in America. That much money will attract all kinds of shady lobbyists. He and his team have to be very careful in how the funds are deployed. It will be a good idea to withdraw America from all the wars immediately to save money. This will save American lives and pockets. There is no threat to America from anywhere or anyone in the World. With the Department of Homeland Security running effectively they can stop all perceived terrorist attacks on American soil.

I also hope Obama does not meddle too much in the Kashmir affair and make it difficult for India and Pakistan to solve the issue. In the guise of neutralising Taleban, Obama and his team should not be drawn into the Kashmir issue and lose their goodwill with democratic India.

Finally I can’t escape the irony of George Bush and Dick Cheney wanting to get rid of Osama and instead getting Obama to head the USA. Just an alphabet change, but what a change it is for America. And it is funny that Bush and Cheney lost the war against the Muslims and paved the way for an African-American with a Muslim middle name to become the President of USA. I know I am taking a cheap shot here, but could not help myself.