Is inflation here to stay?
Economy
Earlier this month, the major milk dairy companies and cooperatives in the country, Amul, Gokul, and Mother Dairy, increased the prices of milk by INR 2 per litre. With the increase in prices of milk, value-added products such as cheese, butter and Indian sweets, which use milk as raw material, might see a price increase, going ahead.
What is inflation anyway?
Inflation is the persistent increase in prices of goods and services of common or daily use, which results in an increase in the overall cost of living. It can be either due to demand-pull or cost-push factors.
Demand-pull factors refer to an increase in prices due to an overall increase in demand for products.
Cost-push factors are ones that cause an increase in price due to increase in the cost of production.
Current situation
While both wholesale price-based inflation (WPI) and consumer price-based inflation (CPI) in June have eased to 12.07% and 6.26% respectively, WPI is at a 30-year high and the CPI is above the comfort level of the Reserve Bank for the second consecutive month.
As per ET, WPI or Wholesale Price Index measures inflation on the rise in prices of selected few items whereas CPI or Consumer Price Index measures rise in prices of a few goods but at household purchase prices. India has now moved to CPI.
Cost-push inflation due to fuel prices
According to industry experts, the freight cost has increased by 50%. Along with that, the cost of fodder and packaging has also increased, leading to an increase in the price of milk. The rise in the prices of milk is a classic example of cost-push inflation.
Cost-push inflation can be due to an increase in the price of labour, capital or raw materials. The cost-push inflation that we are facing right now is primarily due to increase in prices of petrol and diesel.
Inflation across segments
With constantly rising domestic fuel prices, prices of almost everything will rise. At the very first instance, it increases transportation costs for almost every commodity, thus increasing prices across products and services by increasing the cost of logistics. Also, a lot of industries also use oil as raw material, thus witnessing an increase in the cost of production as well.
Another issue is the rising price of imports. Inflation is on the rise globally, meaning even imports are expected to be costlier.
Double-edged sword
One of the ways to curb inflation is to increase interest rates in the economy, which makes borrowing expensive and savings more beneficial, thereby reducing the money supply. However, reducing money supply will impact demand, which is already low.
Scarred by the devastating second wave of coronavirus, the economic situation in the country is peculiar right now: low demand and high prices.
Possibility of inflation turning demand-pull
Vaccination in the country is gaining momentum, industries and businesses are opening up. The central government has also increased the dearness allowance (DA) and relief to 28%. Government expenditure is expected to increase to revive the economy post-pandemic, which will further increase the supply of money in the economy. All of these factors combined, the increase in demand will most likely bring a further increase in prices.
Inflation - Here to stay?
One can say that the inflation which could have been presumed to be short-term due to cost-push factors, will be here to stay and get worse when combined with demand-pull factors.
Along with the domestic factors and rising import prices, thanks to the pandemic, the global situation itself can turn a bit more inflationary in the coming one to two years.
The 'Hustle pro max' culture: Relentless ambition or toxic productivity?
Opinion
When was the last time you said, “Thank god it’s Monday!”?
Oh, is that the MS Teams tone ringing out of your laptop on a Sunday?
So annoyed by your phone’s ringtone that it's perpetually on ‘vibrate’ mode?
How many Red Bulls are too many Red Bulls? I mean, there are only so many wings they can give!
"That is not gentle"
When this not-so-gentle push comes frequently and from all directions, making it an accepted reality rather than a chance occurrence, it becomes a not-so-gentle routine and a relentless rut.
I’d say ‘hustle culture’ is a treadmill gone rogue. You struggle to keep going and yet the thought of getting off brings guilt, FOMO, self-doubt, or all of the above.
Wasn’t the pandemic touted as a ‘pause’? So how come we are worse off?
With the pandemic hitting every aspect of life for a prolonged period of time, the ‘you-snooze-you-lose’ attitude gave way to the ‘take-a-pause’ one, however, this was not for long. As humans, we adapt! So while the employees appreciated the zero-transit-time to fit in their workouts, their family time and their ‘masterchef’ ambitions, the corporations appreciated it to stretch out the usual workdays and time boundaries.
What’s with all that guilt?
Truth is, we are not good at taking breaks. It’s called vacation guilt. So while we are supposed to be taking time off, we end up beating ourselves about neglecting work duties and putting ‘extra pressure’ on co-workers.
So we end up hauling our laptops along or promising to be ‘available on call for sure’ even though this ensures that we are not fully resting which was the whole point of the vacation.
Self-doubt: a close cousin of guilt
“Am I really cut out for this if I can’t even get through a month without taking a break”
“My manager hasn’t taken leaves in six months! Of course, I can’t get to that level by taking leaves!”
“Why can’t they leave us alone on the weekend! Oh, but am I the only one having an issue with this?”
So if we all relate to this, what now?
Get those boundaries back!
Recognize and admit when you can’t take up more work
Don’t hesitate to say ‘NO’ to requests at odd hours/weekends
Plan your time off in advance
Communicate well with your team beforehand and set the right expectations
Most importantly, don’t make concessions on your time off! If you don’t respect your time off, others surely won’t.
No, I’m not telling you anything new! Breathe, and take that day off! Don’t let that meeting take over your lunch hour. Make your checklists but know that all of it might not happen today and that’s OKAY!
And yes, I know that you know all this. It is okay to step off that treadmill IT has gone rogue and IT is what needs fixing, not you!
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