Real estate price in South Asia is rising at a rapid pace.The market price is clearly dictated by demand. South Asian population is growing by leaps and bound. The inherited land is getting subdivided again and again to such a point that it does not make sense to divide any more. Current trend is to build high rise building and divide the units among siblings. When construction cost is a factor, a third party developer is involved. The developer builds the building, keeps a certain percentage of units to resale and distributes the rest to the land owners.
Unlike in North America, real estate price almost never go down. Most people rely on their savings to make a purchase. Unemployment rate or mortgage interest rate has very little to do with housing price.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Preaching Corporate Democracy
Here, in the west, we take democracy for granted. But, in many countries, democracy is a dreadful word. Fearful to the dictators who want to cling on to their power for generations. Fearful to the oppressed population who are afraid of retaliation for speaking out their mind. But it is hard to conceal your thoughts in this day and age of Internet and cell phone. As a result,civil unrest is becoming peoples choice in many parts of the globe.
Western democracies are eager to propagate democracy all over the world. Governments are spending billions in that cause, mostly through military activities. But, is it working? If it is not, then it time for us to review our approach.
Business world has changed dramatically over the last century.In the old days, business ownership was pretty much a one man operation. If you had the dough, you open up a business and hire some employees. Some people had the craze for land ownership. They saw every thing in real estate and build real estate empire. These days enterprenures team up with many people to start up a large business venture. You cannot do it all by yourself. Then again, when you want to raise some capital, you have to turn to stock market. The ownership then gets more diversified and a corporate democracy begins. The shareholders chooses the board of directors to run the company.
Collective ownership is revolutionizing housing industry. In Toronto, condo sales reached all time high. In colder climate, owning a condo makes more sense for a busy life style. From snow removal to yard work, all are taken care collectively. Cost of utilities is also cheaper as they are procured collectively. And, when you are living in a condo, you are living under the democracy of condo corporation. In Asian countries, condo ownership is getting popular because of ever increasing population density.
Karl Marx's idea of operating a big business was through state ownership.State was to own the land, the company and was entitled to all the profit from business operation. The citizens job was to work for the company There was no incentive for working hard. Everyone made similar wage. After decades of experimentation, the world, pretty much, rejected the idea. But the way Soviet block countries preached the idea all over the world was quite admirable.
In this century, we should preach Corporate Democracy, vigorously, all over the word. Wherever there is stock market, industrialized countries should aid in modernizing the trading activities through technical help and training. The art of raising capital through the stock market should be taught to the rest of the world. Whenever a under developed country comes for foreign aid for building infrastructure, we should teach them how to look for money in their grandma's coffer, and convince her to invest in a toll road or a bridge.
Western democracies are eager to propagate democracy all over the world. Governments are spending billions in that cause, mostly through military activities. But, is it working? If it is not, then it time for us to review our approach.
Business world has changed dramatically over the last century.In the old days, business ownership was pretty much a one man operation. If you had the dough, you open up a business and hire some employees. Some people had the craze for land ownership. They saw every thing in real estate and build real estate empire. These days enterprenures team up with many people to start up a large business venture. You cannot do it all by yourself. Then again, when you want to raise some capital, you have to turn to stock market. The ownership then gets more diversified and a corporate democracy begins. The shareholders chooses the board of directors to run the company.
Collective ownership is revolutionizing housing industry. In Toronto, condo sales reached all time high. In colder climate, owning a condo makes more sense for a busy life style. From snow removal to yard work, all are taken care collectively. Cost of utilities is also cheaper as they are procured collectively. And, when you are living in a condo, you are living under the democracy of condo corporation. In Asian countries, condo ownership is getting popular because of ever increasing population density.
Karl Marx's idea of operating a big business was through state ownership.State was to own the land, the company and was entitled to all the profit from business operation. The citizens job was to work for the company There was no incentive for working hard. Everyone made similar wage. After decades of experimentation, the world, pretty much, rejected the idea. But the way Soviet block countries preached the idea all over the world was quite admirable.
In this century, we should preach Corporate Democracy, vigorously, all over the word. Wherever there is stock market, industrialized countries should aid in modernizing the trading activities through technical help and training. The art of raising capital through the stock market should be taught to the rest of the world. Whenever a under developed country comes for foreign aid for building infrastructure, we should teach them how to look for money in their grandma's coffer, and convince her to invest in a toll road or a bridge.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Burial vs Cremation, Environmental Impact
Human body is bio-degradable. We should take advantage of that fact. What happens when a body is buried? The body decomposes into the soil and eventually turns into nutrients for the plants and vegetation in the graveyard. These plants also absorbs carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, which is good for the atmosphere. It is just like a process of recycling. One life stops, other life benefits from it. This is what nature intends. This had been going on since the existence of life on this planet. Somehow, every life is on the food chain. To continue the process, we should try to make everything associated with burial as bio-degradable as possible.Coffins should be made out of bio-degradable materials only.
On the other hand, when we cremate a body after death, we make sure that the cycle of life stops at that death. Cremation produces a significant amount of green house gasses as any combustion process. Emission of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, hydrofluoric acid and other persistent organic pollutants which occurs when a body is cremated is quite harmful to the environment. Worlds population is projected to reach 10 billion by the year 2083. If cremation continues at current rate, it will make a significant contribution to global worming.
It is a good thing, we don't have to worry about cremation in the animal kingdom. It not that it does not occur. When there is a forest fire, thousands of animals are cremated and lots of trees are burnt. And there is a new trend of cremating dead pets in controlled environment. But, in general, when an animal dies in the forest, other animals and birds gets the best of it Then the insects get it. Lastly, the plants gets it through the soil where the body decomposes. It could have been a lion in an African jungle yesterday or a dinosaur millions of years ago. The same thing goes on when a fish dies in a body of water.
On the other hand, when we cremate a body after death, we make sure that the cycle of life stops at that death. Cremation produces a significant amount of green house gasses as any combustion process. Emission of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, hydrofluoric acid and other persistent organic pollutants which occurs when a body is cremated is quite harmful to the environment. Worlds population is projected to reach 10 billion by the year 2083. If cremation continues at current rate, it will make a significant contribution to global worming.
It is a good thing, we don't have to worry about cremation in the animal kingdom. It not that it does not occur. When there is a forest fire, thousands of animals are cremated and lots of trees are burnt. And there is a new trend of cremating dead pets in controlled environment. But, in general, when an animal dies in the forest, other animals and birds gets the best of it Then the insects get it. Lastly, the plants gets it through the soil where the body decomposes. It could have been a lion in an African jungle yesterday or a dinosaur millions of years ago. The same thing goes on when a fish dies in a body of water.
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