MARKET PERSPECTIVE

By J Mulraj

Mar 15-21, 2025

In a chaotic state run corruptly, even an incompetent person can become King

Image created by Bing

This is the title of a satirical poem, penned in 1881 by Bharatendu Harishchandra, which highlights the corruption, hypocrisy and injustice prevalent in a society. Looking to current news, it seems rather apt!

What else explains why no world leader has so far stepped in, to seek a diplomatic solution to end the Russia-Ukraine war (which ought never to have commenced), and why, when Trump does, most EU leaders try to impede progress.

This highlights the corruption, hypocrisy and injustice of the senseless war. Corruption because a lot of the taxpayer-funded financial aid to Ukraine goes into the pockets of global leaders, politicians, and companies. A good part of the military aid, or weapons, is sold in black markets, where it is often used, against America, the country which supplied them. Hypocrisy because whilst countries express their support for Ukraine out of concern for democracy, as opposed to the autocracy of Russia, in fact it is Russia which has held Presidential elections, in the midst of the war, whilst Ukraine hasn’t. In fact, a few days before his televised meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy had signed a 100-year mineral exploitation deal with Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister (Hey! Was he not supposed to sign the same deal with Trump? Is that not duplicity?). Also, hypocrisy because global leaders, safe in their citadels, and not dying in battle as their youths are, seek to prevent diplomatic efforts to stop the war. Injustice because, as per the Ukrainian Constitution, Zelenskyy, who didn’t call for elections, as he was required to, isn’t authorized to sign the deal, as an unelected leader. The Speaker of the House is.

Andheri Nagri.

Some of America’s biggest problems are the huge debt burden of over $36 trillion, the wasteful expenditure of its Government, the number of illegal immigrants (allowed entry without background checks and accommodated, at taxpayer expense, in luxury hotels), and the use of technologies to solve the problems. Here, too, we see the same elements. The corruption of the previous administration became evident when DOGE (the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk) discovered obvious misuse of taxpayer funds being sent to people aged 100, 200 and even 300 years old. Hypocrisy inasmuch as evidenced by the resistance to such a commendable effort to clean the Augean stables. The resistance comes from various quarters. Such as elected officials (Congressmen and Senators) objecting to the powers of investigation afforded to Musk, on the grounds that he is unelected. The irony that they, despite being elected, were unable to prevent misuse, is lost to them. Even judges objecting to the deportation of illegal and dangerous, immigrants in an effort to protect the rights of such aliens who are depriving legal citizens (whilst illegals get free housing, veterans who have served the country are homeless), and committing violent acts on them. Is it not an inverted sense of values? Injustice because he is acting against the will of the electorate who voted Trump in for draining the swamp.

Andheri Nagri.

Then there are examples of Orwellian doublespeak. One of Biden’s first actions was to pass Executive Orders banning fracking, and cancelling the Keystone Pipeline project. The reason for both was a concern for the environment. This concern disappeared, however, when he, by ignoring Putin”s please for a dialogue, left him with no options but to invade, resulting in an environmentally ruinous war. The production and firing of missiles, the use of fossil fuel guzzling military aircraft, are all environmentally damaging. And the blowing up of the Nord Stream Pipeline (ordered by Biden, according to Seymour Hersh) emitted tonnes of methane, far more harmful than CO2, into the atmosphere. Concern for environment?

Similar hypocrisy was revealed last week by the State of Mississippi, when it banned lab-grown meat. This meat is produced when a tiny sample of meat from a cow, is multiplied in a Petri dish, to provide in a few days as much meat as would come from slaughtering it. Lab grown meat not only prevents the slaughter but changes the very nature of animal farming. Animals bred for their meat consume about half the agricultural land and water resources. If lab grown meat is accepted by consumers, it would result in a release of half the cultivable land and of scarce water for other purposes. So the politicians governing Mississippi ought to welcome lab grown meat. Instead they pass a law banning it.

Similarly, in the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan, the Government just doubled the road tax payable by EVs, but not by ICE vehicles using environmentally unfriendly fossil fuels. This, at a time when ICE cars are likely to be phased out. Chinese EV maker BYD has revealed a charger that tops up an EV as fast as an ICE takes to fill up a gas tank. However, BYD’s debt is $73 b., much higher that of Evergrande, before it’s collapse.

The final nail for ICEs will be when the cost of an EV drops to the price of an Internal Combustion Engine car (the running cost of an EV is significantly lower anyways). This should happen soon.

Doubling road tax for EVs reveals disdain for environment protection to which Saskatchewan policymakers pay lip service.

Sadly, wars are far easier to start than they are to end. Russia has rejected the proposal for a ceasefire. The reason for the conflict was because it did not want Ukraine to join NATO. Now, after 3 years of war, if Zelenskyy still insists on NATO membership to provide Ukraine with a security guarantee, and on retaining all lands he lost in the war, the expectations are unreasonable. In the other conflict zone, Israel versus Hamas, the temporary ceasefire has also ended.

Continuation of two wars, and the start of a third, a trade war, plus attacks by Houthis on ships passing through the Suez Canal, can raise the price of crude oil. India is vulnerable to that, importing 82% of it’s needs. But India is working towards a solution.

Social media says India has found huge oil reserves, over an 18,000 sq kms area, near Dahanu in Maharashtra. India is also promoting the blending of ethanol with petrol, which Brazil did successfully, to lower fuel cost. Ethanol is produced from sugarcane, of which India is the largest producer. Car makers are also making flex-fuel vehicles which can use petrol as well as biofuels.

Last week the BSE Sensex rose 3077 points, to end at 76905.

Stockmarket behavior in coming weeks will be determined by whether, even now, Trump will be able to get Putin and Zelenskyy to agree to an end to the conflict. If he, once again, cuts off financial and military aid, as well as intelligence sharing with Ukraine, it would have little room to negotiate. Perhaps a Presidential election in Ukraine may be the solution; another leader, if elected, may welcome an end to the slow death of his country. If the US could arrange the overthrow of an elected President, Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 it can certainly arrange for free and fair elections that are overdue in Ukraine. If it can’t, things can get out of hand. It is a sobering reminder that both World Wars started in Europe. We must pray there is no hat trick.

Comments may be sent to jmulraj@asiaconverge.com