Sitting half awake in Lahiri sir’s class which was about supply,
demand and price relation, my thoughts plunged into the case when the buyers
have enormous buying power. If demand increases supply increases. If the demand
cannot increase the prices will surge.
So with this, friends, I welcome you to the story of my home
state kerala wherein some market forces heavily influenced the price of land.
Kerala is one of the major states in India that brings in
huge foreign wealth to our country. Majority of the skilled and unskilled youth
in kerala finds it his dream to go to dubai and work because they believe that
is the path which will lift the financial position of the family.
The belief is not totally false.
You earn double or triple with the same knowledge if you can
get to dubai. When converted to Indian rupee it will fetch you returns enough
to build the dream home or buy the dream car that you want to.
The story I say is of a middleclass person who migrates to
start the living. But 10 or 20 years down the lane that person has enough
wealth to buy acres of land in the state, has the power to give a higher price for
anything he wants.
Naturally the prices of items go up.
It is not the same
for all those who go abroad. But a majority has the same story.
I feel this inflation in prices is most prevalent in the
case of land.
Now come back to the
other middle class who didn’t take the flight to dubai-the ones who joined the
government services, the ones who could get into only the daily wages kind of
jobs, the ones who put up a small shop in the native.
These people will just wonder what happen. In all the cases
mentioned above even if I take the case of the government servants who are
considered to be having better financial stability among them they won’t have
any bargaining power in the system.
I went with my
brother in kerala to purchase a land/house for him and saw that you don’t get a
cent for less than 5 lakhs anywhere in Trivandrum.
Even if you take the salary of an IAS
officer I don’t think he will be able to buy the land without going for high austerity measures in family. Then what
will be the case of the poor people who struggles to have their daily meal.
I came down to Ahmedabad some months ago. In ahmedabad city I found that a good house
wherein my uncle stays could command only 65 lakh, which is the prevailing
market price. The city is Ahmedabad, the location is inside the city. Even then
the price is only 65 lakh!!!!! But for sure the same in Trivandrum city would
go beyond 1 crore. Its because there are people who are ready to pay 1crore.
And from where does one crore come to kerala economy??
This inflation in prices I believe is a dark side of the
foreign wealth flowing into kerala. The common people will find it hard to
survive. Even a government servant will have to put in his whole life’s
earnings to buy 5 cents of land.
Now another question arises.
If he did that, how
will he get his daughter married?
Gold is again getting costlier. Today it is 3200 per gram.
Again the highest demand goes to my state….
Fed up by the low wake up rate of the class Lahiri sir shot
a question in a thundering loud voice..”Now what wil happen to the price of the
good if demand increases????”
I woke up and replied
SIR I HOPE IT INCREASES…
