Arabian Nights and my association with them ....

My first impression of the middle east started with the awesome stories from the Arabian Nights .....what a beautifull memory and one every child should have.....
My second association with the Arab world was when i started my MPhil dissertation on the 'The Geo-politics of  oil pricing, the deeper i went into the topic, the greater my empathy for the people of this region. The trust and warmth they gave was used against them to loot them. The 1973 oil shock was unexpected but the 1980 oil shock according to my research and my guide was purely staged by the US of America. Therefore the hyper-pluralism of oil pricing...(an article by an economist)  and OPEC would get blamed. Actually economics and i too believe Cartels are not good for non altruistic reasons, but i personally believe OPEC is good ....gang up you guys against the exploitation you had to face for so long.... ohh i am so for the under-dog always.... even if it is not doing the greatest good for the greatest number....

In fact when the oppressed rise, sometimes the victim becomes the victimize r and that is the price the world pays in this case for the years of ....... any cut in output or slight hike in price and the world collectively sighs.  
My third association with the Arab land started post 26th April 2012 in the most progressive and beautifull land in all Arabland ....Beautifull Bahrain. So much natural beauty and such warm and wonderfull people, i fell in love with the awesomely beautifull blue still waters of the sea here. This country is such a personification of free trade, kindness, easy access to the ruling people etc....

Then i read an account of a Westerner being amazed at the progress and pomp and show of Dubai ...and he was still ridiculing the Arab. So i ask you oh westerner ....how many of u can live in such harsh conditions? I say harsh conditions because in summer when my children come home from school in the hot sun, they are so irritated and fight with each other all the time. They come home in winters at the same time they do in summers but the change in the way they interact with each other is to be seen to be believed. Hot climates do affect people and makes one short tempered and listless in the hot summers.

Despite that one can see tremendous improvement and change in the Arab world, specially here in Bahrain the respect women get is eye opening. I see women driving cabs and doing all that any western woman does as far as choice of profession, leisure activities or anything else is concerned and takes for granted.Life is good here in Bahrain, all kinds of people can live and prosper... be it the party goer, those interested in arts and painting or music and dance, or spirituality or entrepreneurship or volunteering or gourmet food or you name it and it is there.

People from various nationalities have settled here and each of them have their own groups, clubs, associations, schools, activities and each of these and all are thriving and very active.
to be contd.......

Milton Friedman's Permanent Income hypothesis .....

When i used to teach International Business Environment to undergraduate students, i used to always tell them to test the best fit of theories as a project in their holidays. Then when the assignment mode of testing became a reality i used to give them theories to test and see if it holds good. The students gave excellent reports on one such theory i gave them to test. It was so tough to mark them, keeping the CGPA system of marking in mind. The theory i gave them to test was the Porter Diamond Theory of National Advantage, for which i divided them into groups and gave each group a different sector to study.
I was happy to see the amazing way the project was handled by my students, and realised that every classroom is a place where i teach and also learn.
Milton Friedman's theory about the permanent income hypothesis is a theory very close to my heart because it was the topic of my first class presentation when i was doing my Mphil course work. I was the only one who summarised the original words of the author, as during the presentations after mine i realised the other students had used text books to interpret the theory in an easier manner. The presentation was also tougher for me as that day the Head of the economics department was busy and instead of 45 minutes i had to finish in 15 minutes.
This theory is different from the other consumption function theories and i like it the best though i do agree the Keynesian Consumption function and the Relative Income Hypothesis(considering that keeping up with the Jones is so very common in day to day life) are also very apt. . But given a choice and money i would like to do a best fit of the permanent income hypothesis in today's world of non permanency of jobs, opportunities, areas of work becoming so varied and choices galore that is the norm ... and a permanent government job which is pensionable a rarity ....not that it was the norm then either ....... but yes times have changed and so have people and perspectives and HOW .... :)