If everything is paid for by the taxpayer what do they know?

The Economic Survey has published the usual socialist mishmash, saying that Rs 1 trillion could be saved if subsidies given to the rich are withdrawn. We are being constantly harangued to pay the market price for gas cylinders, that at least 23% of voters should be paying income tax, instead of 4% as at present, and companies must spend 2% of net profits on Corporate Social Responsibility but do you ever hear a peep about social responsibility of politicians and civil servants and withdrawing some of the subsidies they get? So who are the rich? Those who travel by planes or air-conditioned trains and those who buy gold have been labeled as rich. It does not specify how many grams of gold. Who is responsible for writing this tosh? The Chief Economic Adviser, Arvind Subramanian, who has a D Phil in Economics from Oxford. Another DPhil from Oxford, Manmohan Singh completely ruined the economy while clinging on to his seat for 10 long years. Fiscal and Current Account Deficits climbed, retail inflation went above 10%, growth plummeted and our credit rating was within a hairbreadth of being downgraded to junk status. So what is the truth? Ten years after spending Rs 4.38 billion, 15 regional airports are yet to see one passenger. Obviously the vast majority cannot afford to fly. So what is the answer? Reduce taxes on air tickets so that they are cheaper. But then those who avail of the cheaper tickets will immediately fall into the rich bracket and you will have the socialists howling for reducing subsidies. So idiotic. Why do people buy gold? Because high retail inflation means that the rupee buys less everyday. There are only 3 ways of hedging against inflation: 1. Change rupees into a basket of currencies, including the dollar, the Swiss franc and the yen, but that will not be allowed by the RBI because if everybody does that the rupee will drop to 100 to the dollar. That will cause cost of imports, especially of oil, to soar and the economy will collapse. 2. Buy real estate. That is impossible for 99% of Indians because the cost of land has sky-rocketed so that the average cost of apartments in Manhattan in New York was a record $1,645 per sq yard, which comes to about Rs 1 million per sq yard, exactly the same as property prices in so-called posh areas of Delhi. Low cost housing is of little use because they will be too small for Indian families and too far from the place of work, increasing commuting costs. Ironically, anyone who has inherited a property has an asset worth millions but may be earning too little to pay income tax. 3. Buy gold. The rich may buy gold bars but for the poor it is ideal hedge against inflation. You can buy 5-10 grams and keep it in a bank locker in case of an emergency. If politicians and civil servants, with huge salaries, pensions and freebies, came out of their air-conditioned palaces they might learn about the real economy. But why should they?