RE: Minimum wages, competition and 200 years of success.

[Sanjeev Sabhlok <sabhlok@almaak.usc.edu>]

Dear Kush/ friends,

Sorry for being a "controller" and "moderator." People are perhaps
offended not only by language issues but by other things also (maybe the
act of forceful argument?).. I know that the definition of use of language
as polite/impolite has been changing over the times. But I am a very old
civil servant, and I know that any argument using newly fangled words will
not be published in any reputed academic journal. That was the standard we
set ourselves out, to begin with (I hope!).

So, sorry about the oversight, folks, but Kush is right. We cannot perhaps
even have the luxury of kicking butt on this list (though in my "book" I
do transgress some borders myself). Charu, a very old class friend, will
understand that Kush has a point about my overlooking things. I've got to
be fair here... 

Everyone appreciates I am sure that the idea here is to build this into a
sustainable list which can actually do the task which it has set out to
perform, namely, to build a Manifesto and an Agenda, without offending
people on issues not related to content. Only the oil of super-politeness
can sustain us through this long and arduous task. At the end of all this
we might all decide to meet some where to kick ... and talk B... over a
drink or two (!)

In the meanwhile, I am sorry to report that we have lost Mitali from this
list. She was probably offended by something we (I?) did. I wrote this to
her today (extracts):

"While fully appreciating your discretion to leave the list as and when
you like, I was hoping to get valuable alternative viewpoints on the list
so that we can hammer out a policy document which can be published in a
few months.

"I hope you were not offended by the tone of any person (probably me?) on
the list. I was wanting to get a point across. I fully appreciate the
concern with the poor, but I am by now nearly 40 years old, wizened,
wrinkled, and have seen enough of our systems to know that interventionism
by government cannot work the way we have designed it. This intervention
most often goes against the interests of the poor unless very (very) 
carefully designed.

"I hope you will find time to come back to the list in due course."

I thank Kush for an excellent piece. I have no choice but to respond to
Kush on some of his main content. But that will be later today. 

Sanjeev