Economy and cyclists
 

Just got this from a friend, in an email......


Subject: Economy and cyclists

Sanjay Thakrar, CEO at Euro Exim Bank Ltd. got economists thinking when he said “A cyclist is a disaster for the country's economy - He does not buy the car & does not take a car loan - Does not buy car insurance - Does not buy Fuel - Does not send his car for servicing & repairs - Does not use paid Parking - Does not become Obese - Yes,.....and well, damn it !!
Healthy people are not needed for the economy. They do not buy drugs. They do not go to Hospitals & Doctors. They add nothing to country's GDP.

On the contrary, every new McDonald outlet creates at least 30 jobs - 10 Cardiologists, 10 Dentists, 10 weight loss experts, apart from people workingin McDonald’s outlets. Choose wisely: A Cycle or a McDonald ? Worththinking”

PS. walking is even worse. they do not even buy a bicycle.

Hmmmm...

I can hear Steven Tyler singing: "Eat the rich! There's only one thing they're really good for!!!"

Elf that one percenter :bike:

Don't worry. Once more and more people get back to working on a daily basis, all these pandemic cyclists will not have, or find, the time to ride as much if at all.

I for one have had a harder time getting my riding time in since my work has picked up.

Notice how he considers hospitals and doctors as part of the economy.

F him and his GDP.

Well, it's 18% of the U.S. economy and one of the fastest growing segments. Just saying. ;)

Profiteering off of people's lives. Just saying.

Oh, and that 18-percent of "the economy" is the health insurance companies. A business model of making profit by refusing to pay for procedures and other care. Just saying.

Sounds like you don't have health insurance, either. Welcome to the club.

Sadly, that's capitalism. Gotta satisfy those shareholders.

None of what he speaks of is necessarily bad for the economy. It may alter the status quo by redirecting spending but that can arguably lead to greater economic growth as the shift increases activity. Large and very rapid change can create short term problems, but generally speaking change is good.

[QUOTE=alanf;21509061]Just got this from a friend, in an email......

Subject: Economy and cyclists

Sanjay Thakrar, CEO at Euro Exim Bank Ltd. got economists thinking when he said “A cyclist is a disaster for the country's economy ....

hahaha ...for me, wealthy persons who travel a lot on subsidized flag airline, running a "sucessful business" that enjoy monopoly and protected from competition are the real economic vampires....who suck the blood of others, poorer tax payers.

As a cyclist first, and economist second, I find the above summary hilarious because it openly says what most will not: we are just bread to be consumers in a big pyramid scheme. And what eventually happens to pyramid schemes? They fail. Our failure as a society could come from any number of reasons: crushing financial leverage (national debt soaring as we sit here), personal leverage (debt to income could become unsustainable for so many people with loss of jobs and social benefits that millions of ppl going bankrupt becomes a negative feedback loop hitting GDP further), disease, war (civil and foreign)...

I am a hack... I have a car and drive it about 25% as much as I ride my bike. When I was commuting it was bike to train station, and subway in the city. Road trips and grocery-getting is tough on just a bike. I have been worried about collapse (personal and national) for so many years I'm almost numb and basically expect it may happen at any point.

Want to know why Regan's "Trickle down" economic argument is fiction? While rich people write laws to make dividend and carried interest income taxed at only 15%, they are actually building wealth on a continued basis. However the rest of us suckers are spending close to every penny we make, most of which gets taxed above the 15% rich people pay (e.g.: Warren Buffet has personal income tax rate of 17%). We actually drive the economy far more than the "rich" sector does given how much of each dollar we make recycles back into the GDP. But rich people keep saving, which inherently drags on the economy... Perhaps Sanjay Thakrar should have issue with those people at the top (including himself).

He doesn't take into account that a lot of the money a bicyclist saves by not having a car or its attendant expenses, is often spent instead on other things that drive the economy.

Cheers

I think he was playing with the audience.

I assume (if the email is real) that he was trying to provoke debate.

Thanks to automation, the jobs most necessary for humanity's survival - providing food, basic shelter etc. - can be done by a fraction of the population, so we have had the opportunity to add jobs and whole industries that we believe improve our quality of life, like tourism, sports, the hobby industry; or cater to our vanities or our desire for luxury, like the fashion industry, the beauty industry,high end homes and cars (and bicycles). We have also added jobs whose main purpose is to extract money from other industries or people - financial advisor, patent litigator and a few others. We like being catered to, so we patronize restaurants, cafes, spas, nail salons and what have you. Whole sectors like this could disappear without too much impact on the overall course of human history.

One purpose of all these add-on industries - maybe the main purpose - is to distribute money to everybody. Don't own a farm or work making bricks with straw and clay? No problem, you can become a travel agent or dog-walker - jobs that would be a inconceivable if everybody had to work in the fields to feed the population.

So basically we have a huge economic infrastructure (actually - superstructure) of non-essential industries and jobs, based on a surplus of labour and the need to keep everybody employed so they can eat and in some cases maybe even get rich..

The problem with all this is it is hugely wasteful of resources. We could live much more lightly on the planet if we didn't all the frivolous, redundant industrial activity that keeps much of the population employed and puts money in their bank accounts to keep their families fed and housed. We don't need to eat oranges in winter in Norway or drive a Hummer - we do it because we can. And as the letter points out, we are not necessarily improving our lives by all the consumption - in some cases it makes us less healthy.

Of course if we all decide to cut back on the luxury and live simpler, healthier lives, the industries that cater to our vices will collapse.

Can't have that!

This is a great plus for bikes in my eyes, all those free benefits to society. Everyone should be cycling!

Well, that's extreme. I understand your enthusiasm for cycling, but trying to put everyone on bikes to solve the world's social and economic problems is fanciful.

I probably spend more on my bikes and attendant paraphernalia than most people do on car payments, license renewals/registration, insurance, maintenance and gas. And that’s not even taking into consideration the additional grocery bills to cover my redonculous caloric intake.

Years ago a tenant of mine told me that the staff at the home for the mentally ret@rded where she worked had been instructed to refer to the residents instead as “our consumers.”

So despite not having had to see a physician in twenty years, still feel like quite a consumer.

The premise is generally false. Money cyclists don't spent on cars is spent on other things. However, the exception is generally large, in that the desire for expensive items like cars motivate people to earn more income. Earning more income usually requires one learn a trade or provide a service which society values enough to pay a higher price. These trades or services require schools, colleges, or programs which provide classrooms, teachers, and materials to teach others to perform trades or provide services. These trades and services usually improve the overall quality of life of society, and provide incomes which create more tax revenue for the state.

The worst thing for the economy are indolent people who don't care to improve themselves to the point that they can provide positive value to society.

The best way to make the world a better place is to make yourself a better person.

I couldn't find any evidence that there ever was an actual audience for the alleged quoted statements from a Sanjay Thakrar, CEO at Euro Exim Bank Ltd. Or that any economic authority ever made the statements quoted in the OP to an audience of economists.

Lots of alleged statements and wacky theories from alleged experts get passed along on email and other social media from friends.

It appears that the OP was a recipient of an email that included content that was just more disinformation that gets fabricated to pass along on Facebook and other social media just to stir up "friends."

I love this kinda stuff. The firm "Euro Exim" is a privately owned offshore financial institution in St. Lucia that provides letters of credit. Barely a bank. Not one's first choice for economic research. And I'm not seeing Sanjay baby on the website. But you gotta love the idea that sick people make a stronger economy because they spend a lot. That's like saying that if we burn down all the houses, then we see economic benefits from homebuilding. People always confusing the balance sheet with the income statement.