We always lose.

As we have been saying for months the government of India is cheating us of our wealth. Even though the Consumer Price Index which governs what we pay for essential goods and services has been increasing at an average of 10% since 2009 the government has forced the Reserve Bank to keep interest rates low. We were told that this was really to help all those who took loans to buy houses and cars and to encourage borrowing by industries for investment which would create jobs and improve the growth of the economy. What these fellows were actually doing was to keep bond yields low so as to pay less interest on the money that the government borrows so as to buy 12 luxury helicopters from AugustaWestland, owned by Finmeccanica of Italy, and for fully paid luxury trips for ministers to attend the World Economic Forum conference at the expensive Swiss resort of Davos. So the government was transferring wealth from people, who have worked hard and controlled their spending to save money, to reckless borrowers who are using our money for private gain. Uncontrolled inflation led to the recent collapse of the rupee, as we had predicted, and now this generosity is being extended to Non Resident Indians to entice them to send more dollars to India, in a desperate effort to stem the rout. Banks in India are offering higher interest rates on Non Resident External term deposits compared to residents. TOI, 26 August. Banks are offering 9 to 9.5% on long term NRE deposits with duration of up to 5 to 10 years compared to residents who are offered a maximum of 8.75%. Not just rupee deposits but even Foreign Currency Non-Resident accounts are offering rates 300 to 400 basis points higher than Libor rates which means that NRIs can borrow at around 1% in Europe, UK or the US and get 5% interest on foreign exchange, paid in the same foreign currency. They are mortgaging our future. Of course, where politicians lead others will follow. Seems that onion traders made Rs 1.5 billion in a couple of months by restricting supplies of onions. TOI, 25 August. They bought onions at Rs 1,500 per quintal between June and July and then kept them in stores. On 12 August the price reached Rs 4,300 per quintal and Rs 4,500 the next day. Indians are the biggest losers.