{"id":45594,"date":"2015-07-12T00:35:24","date_gmt":"2015-07-12T07:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=45594"},"modified":"2015-07-12T00:35:24","modified_gmt":"2015-07-12T07:35:24","slug":"an-economists-rambling-thoughts-on-the-trans-siberian-may-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/07\/12\/an-economists-rambling-thoughts-on-the-trans-siberian-may-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"An Economist\u2019s Rambling Thoughts on the Trans Siberian-May 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garvin Karunaratne<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Two days well spent in Moscow<\/p>\n

Our Guide Olga showed us the way<\/p>\n

The Kremlin and the imposive buildings<\/p>\n

The Diamond Fund showing\u00a0 the regalia of Russia<\/p>\n

Gone are the misadventures in the economy,<\/p>\n

Gorbachov, is no more,<\/p>\n

Gone are his Perestroika and Glasnost<\/p>\n

Gifted with a\u00a0 Noble Prize he lives in luxury\u2019<\/p>\n

While Russia did suffer with poverty bursting\u00a0 peoples lives.<\/p>\n

Our Tour driver, a chemistry grad lost his job in that economic upheaval<\/p>\n

Russia seems to have\u00a0 now regained its strength\u2019<\/p>\n

the Production base looks back in full swing<\/p>\n

The shops were full of local produce,<\/p>\n

The Imperial Sanctions has not brought a starving people,<\/p>\n

Instead,\u00a0\u00a0it has actually spurred production<\/p>\n

Low are the salaries and so are also goods,\u00a0 low in price.<\/p>\n

Even Metformine- a medical tablet made in Germany is dead cheap<\/p>\n

The Rich plundering the people and making them poor is not on.<\/p>\n

Its communism, with a tinge of the Free Markets<\/p>\n

A controlled economy with a place for the Private Sector to contribute.<\/p>\n

Moscow was full of elegant people, not a beggar in sight,<\/p>\n

Looks a contented people with memories of a victorious past?<\/p>\n

The Trans Siberian Train pulled up at Moscow Railway Station,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A two berth for me and my wife\u00a0 and our son in the adjoining,<\/p>\n

Bag and baggage all cramped up.<\/p>\n

A train taking us across\u00a0 two continents to Mongolia and far away China.<\/p>\n

A lifetime trip of some four thousands miles,<\/p>\n

It took off on the rails with a bang.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The country sides were full of fir trees, endless.<\/p>\n

We were in the thick of the Taiga, the largest forest in the world<\/p>\n

Those\u00a0 economists who opine that the world will be bereft of trees.<\/p>\n

I am dead cert- they have never been on the Trans Siberian<\/p>\n

For once I remembered my geography lessons at St Peter\u2019s College, Colombo<\/p>\n

We learned of\u00a0 the Russian Taiga and the Urals<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It stopped a while at main stations, when we could alight<\/p>\n

A quick wander in the shops, have a bite, buy some\u00a0 bread and off we go again<\/p>\n

A one minute stop at small stations<\/p>\n

for a lone passenger drop and a stray pick up<\/p>\n

And off it goes again at a steady pace, unstoppable, undeterred<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The fir trees ended and then it was Silver Birch, endless.<\/p>\n

There were timber yards everywhere,<\/p>\n

where Silver Birch were felled,\u00a0 debarked and made into logs<\/p>\n

All loaded for another Freight Siberian to take it away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then came the Russian Steppes, massive farmland, endless hectares<\/p>\n

There was no end as far as my eyes and field glasses could see.<\/p>\n

It looked like my gazing at eternity<\/p>\n

In the scattered villages, a farm yard here and a veg patch there,<\/p>\n

men and women with rakes and forks,<\/p>\n

hard at work, they are everywhere<\/p>\n

land\u00a0 being readied for planting.<\/p>\n

People in small dwellings painted in an array of colour<\/p>\n

Homes, All clustered together, well lit, blessed with people<\/p>\n

The roads were dirt tracks, the cars old and ramshackle, but that was life.<\/p>\n

No luxury homes for the rich, All looked alike<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A lone tractor\u00a0 was straining in the distance- dry ploughing.<\/p>\n

The earth was dark, ideal for crops and the extents legion.<\/p>\n

I recalled the Canadian and US Prairies I had seen. earlier<\/p>\n

In them, there were no settlements of people. no life.<\/p>\n

Only tractor stations, godowns and large offices,<\/p>\n

All bereft of people; robots and tractors had taken their place.<\/p>\n

Not in Russia; there were people, in settlements all over<\/p>\n

Huddled together so that services- education and food\u00a0 can be easily provided<\/p>\n

The Russian Steppes do\u00a0\u00a0breathe with human life<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sights of the Russian Steppes and the Canadian Prairies<\/p>\n

Tells me that the World will never be short of food.<\/p>\n

Economist pundits have to go by road to the Prairies and Steppes<\/p>\n

Get on\u00a0 the Trans Siberian before they\u00a0 come\u00a0 with their concoctions of global\u00a0 misery<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the US farmers are paid for not cultivating their land<\/p>\n

All to ensure that there is no glut of produce which could\u00a0 cause a drop in the price.<\/p>\n

The American Prairies are commercialized- all to make a buck<\/p>\n

While Russia\u2019s Steppes are devoted to make bread for the masses<\/p>\n

Naturally in Russia there is plenty of produce, rice,\u00a0\u00a0wheat, buck wheat,<\/p>\n

all at ridiculously low affordable\u00a0 prices,<\/p>\n

Bread at the lowest prices I have ever seen, at half the price in the US<\/p>\n

Russia has actually controlled hunger with its massive production.<\/p>\n

The wages are low, but cheap food, cheap energy,\u00a0 cheap electricity<\/p>\n

Enabling\u00a0 a happy and contented people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At Irkutsh, Guide Sergie\u00a0 greeted us.<\/p>\n

We broke journey for two days
\nIt was a City humming with life,<\/p>\n

While the\u00a0 waters of the Angara River flowed calm and certain<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Next day we were at Lake Baikal<\/p>\n

The marvel of all lakes I\u2019ve ever seen,<\/p>\n

One dark sheet of water, deep blue ,\u00a0 stretching endless<\/p>\n

as far as my eyes could see,<\/p>\n

Further on the horizon,\u00a0 on the Buryat shore<\/p>\n

Shining silvery snow capped mountains,<\/p>\n

A glorious sight that I do hope to see someday..<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The City Market was well stocked with local fish and veg.<\/p>\n

More, it was womenfolk that ran them<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We were again on the Trans Siberian<\/p>\n

Heading for Mongolia,<\/p>\n

The train\u00a0\u00a0 skirted the waters of Lake Baikal.<\/p>\n

At times it seemed we were on the Lake. It was that close.<\/p>\n

The heavens lit up,<\/p>\n

A varied hue of orange, red and yellow<\/p>\n

Another day was born<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Trans Siberian is yet moving along.<\/p>\n

The waters calm and placid are shining in all its glory<\/p>\n

All in the dead of the night.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A lone star, far away, shines, speaking out that she is also there.<\/p>\n

The Trans Siberian, all alone, stealthily ploughs its way, slowly but surely<\/p>\n

Never at break neck speed, all in measured steps,<\/p>\n

Lest we get shaken up, like dice in a tin<\/p>\n

The driver knows the art of gliding along<\/p>\n

We have to pass not one not two,\u00a0\u00a0 some\u00a0 four thousand\u00a0 miles.<\/p>\n

And at the end we should not be\u00a0\u00a0having broken bones<\/p>\n

It is all different from trains in India- the Shatabdi Express that speeds<\/p>\n

Making us hold our breath and life in our hands<\/p>\n

The Trans Siberian has to learn one thing from the Shatabdi Express<\/p>\n

that\u2019s how the passengers have to be cared for.<\/p>\n

The carriage attendants- the provodnitsa are a law unto themselves<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Trans Siberian halts again, a minute for a lone passenger to alight<\/p>\n

She walks\u00a0 home to meet the loved ones who may yet be fast asleep.<\/p>\n

Her home, a wooden cottage can be seen, a distance away,\u00a0\u00a0on a well lit path<\/p>\n

As she strolls along, she waves Good Bye to the Siberian that goes its way.<\/p>\n

Bringing the habitats of lone Siberian settlers<\/p>\n

To be\u00a0\u00a0in touch with the rest of the world,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The waters are seen shimmering through the silhouette of fir trees<\/p>\n

The Trans Siberian is almost touching the water,<\/p>\n

The Sun is casting its first ray of light, a golden\u00a0 orange hue,<\/p>\n

Telling the world that another day will dawn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The orange hue becomes brighter<\/p>\n

The bark of the Silver Birches doth shine,<\/p>\n

The Sun says, I am there, I\u2019m coming soon,<\/p>\n

Surely, Do Wait for me,\u00a0 Lest ye forget, It\u2019s I that brings you life\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Trans Siberian has now gone into a settlement<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Railway Station, with shining rails all long<\/p>\n

On one side it is cranes loading logs,<\/p>\n

On another it is Foremen Plate Layers<\/p>\n

Bending down- they are taking levels on the two rails<\/p>\n

Casting a sharp eye on the sleepers and fish plates,<\/p>\n

All to see that we are safe and sound.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Off we go\u00a0\u00a0on with a thud and a bang.<\/p>\n

Again a one minute stop, another one out and another one in.<\/p>\n

Rumbling along its path by the Lake, Baikal,<\/p>\n

The deepest of all\u00a0\u00a0fresh water lakes<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sky is now brighter<\/p>\n

Yet\u00a0 the Sun is lingering on, getting ready,<\/p>\n

Giving time for the resting men to regain strength<\/p>\n

To get ready for another day\u2019s toil<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Mist casts itself\u00a0 over the shimmering blue waters of Goose Lake<\/p>\n

The Rays of the Sun lights up the Heavens,<\/p>\n

Off goes the Mist,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meanwhile the Trans Siberian takes off<\/p>\n

We entered Mongolia<\/p>\n

The land is rugged, the mountains unkempt<\/p>\n

In the valleys herds of cattle loiter along one after another<\/p>\n

Hundreds. They are always very busy, munching a stray plant<\/p>\n

Wandering all over, by nightfall destined for a Ger, far away,<\/p>\n

Being goaded along when straying, by a nomad on horseback<\/p>\n

All going to their master, in a Ger, visible,\u00a0\u00a0far out in the distance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Trans Siberian gets to Ullan batar<\/p>\n

It is the capital of Mongolia, our stay for two days,<\/p>\n

Our tour guide\u00a0 Enny greets us<\/p>\n

A night in cosy Edelweiss Hotel<\/p>\n

The next day we are escorted to the town.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I gazed,\u00a0 amazed at he massive Chinghiz Square,<\/p>\n

With the mighty Chinghiz Khan, carved out of a huge marble<\/p>\n

Flanked by armed riders, astride on horse back ,<\/p>\n

The sheer size of the square, the riders on horseback armed to the teeth,<\/p>\n

Make me relive Chinghiz\u00a0 Khan, the mighty,<\/p>\n

along with his ten thousand warriors<\/p>\n

Riding\u00a0 to China, to Russia, to Poland, to Afghanistan, to far off lands<\/p>\n

All put to the sword- to his bows and arrows.<\/p>\n

No talk of Human Rights Commissions then<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next day we were off to Kharakhorum,<\/p>\n

The sacred sanctum\u00a0 Erdene Zuu Khlid Monastery,<\/p>\n

Endless statues of Lord Buddha Sakyamuni,<\/p>\n

Of Kassapa the Buddha of yore, Of Maitri the Buddha of the Future<\/p>\n

All tell the devotion of a grand people<\/p>\n

The Lamas- priests, the custodians of Buddhism are omnipresent<\/p>\n

– their chants rendered the air<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We lived in a Ger Tourist\u00a0 Camp<\/p>\n

Our Ger, a nomadic tent, with all comforts<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the nights the light blue heavens were lit with numerous stars.<\/p>\n

Shining bright, the brightest sky I\u2019ve ever seen<\/p>\n

It was not the bleak sky I gazed on my lawn at Anuradhapura<\/p>\n

On the SOB Road- Staff Officers Bungalow Road. That was five decades ago<\/p>\n

Trying to identify the few stars that shon.<\/p>\n

Then we saw Orion and his belt. That was all.<\/p>\n

Now it was, countless brothers and sisters of Mother Earth<\/p>\n

The sheer numbers of celestial bodies- stars, galaxies defied me.<\/p>\n

It was a myriad, shining bright casting a ray at me<\/p>\n

At times winking at me, a stray stranger gazing from far<\/p>\n

Telling me, You are not alone. Don\u2019t think you are alone,<\/p>\n

We may be far away, but we are there\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We were taken to a Ger, a nomad\u2019s tent,<\/p>\n

A nomad family feted us wholeheartedly,<\/p>\n

It was unbelievable an entire home in a tiny Ger, twenty feet in diameter<\/p>\n

Beds and tables all arranged, a small kitchenette on a side<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where an entire family lived.<\/p>\n

Around it were a few sheds to house the calves and the foal<\/p>\n

and the dairy milking enclosure,<\/p>\n

A rugged makeshift fence to keep off wolves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Gur was unpicked and moved to newer pastures often<\/p>\n

On State land that belonged to all<\/p>\n

To find eatables for the cattle and horses,<\/p>\n

The only assets the nomads ever had<\/p>\n

The Concept of State land that belonged to all, to be used and not abused<\/p>\n

Makes me think of the Crown Lands Ordinance of the Colonial British,<\/p>\n

A Decree that all unoccupied land belonged to the Crown<\/p>\n

And then sold off the land at five shillings an acre to European settlers<\/p>\n

Depriving the Sinhala highlanders of their water resources, their livelihood,<\/p>\n

Leaving them paupers for ever<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Again on the Trans Siberian \u2013 off to China.<\/p>\n

At the border at Zamun Ude<\/p>\n

Where the carriage wheels were unlocked and moved to the new China gauge.<\/p>\n

A Great job, done in record time, with Chinese workmen working pell mell<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Off we were on our way again,<\/p>\n

This time the Chinese carriage attendants\u00a0 were more human,<\/p>\n

No more frowning faces,<\/p>\n

Chatty with the little broken English they knew<\/p>\n

They even helped carry our luggage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lo and behold,<\/p>\n

The Mongolian steppes and mountains turned into green in China.<\/p>\n

They were teeming with people<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A tractor in the distance, ponies dragging the ploughs,<\/p>\n

Land was being tilled by hand, prepared for the onset of rain<\/p>\n

trees were planted on the contours, the land graded with care,<\/p>\n

Vast nurseries making plants<\/p>\n

Canals, well maintained, took the water along.<\/p>\n

There were new homes being built for the masses<\/p>\n

Everything was breathing with life<\/p>\n

It was a marvel of a sight, people at work in soiled clothes<\/p>\n

plants sprouting, trees waving in the winds, brick after brick being laid<\/p>\n

a country at work, all hands to the deck,<\/p>\n

All while the Trans Siberian rumbled along<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beijing is a City that shines, Sindy took us around.<\/p>\n

Exceptional Development bursting at the seams.<\/p>\n

Endless Skyscapers\u00a0 scraping the skies for space,<\/p>\n

Massive hotels teeming with smart businessmen,<\/p>\n

The Beijin International my home for five days<\/p>\n

Swarming with Sales Supermarkets<\/p>\n

Full of everything that one wants.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I held my breath at Tinneman Square,<\/p>\n

People moving solemnly, in reverence at Mao<\/p>\n

Mao Tse Tung, the Creator of Communist China<\/p>\n

Who built the people in communes<\/p>\n

However today it is Communism with FreeMarkets,<\/p>\n

Looks to be a well worked out strategy<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is No Wonder,\u00a0\u00a0China has stolen the thunder<\/p>\n

While the world lingers in slumber.<\/p>\n

In the USA\u00a0 the Republicans and the Democrats are at loggerheads<\/p>\n

The one in the opposition wont allow the other to rule.<\/p>\n

There is no new development, ever.<\/p>\n

The Fed, Bernanke and earlier Greenspan<\/p>\n

Both talked a lot; They only knew to change interest rates,<\/p>\n

Little knowing that people will cash in, draw loans at low interest,<\/p>\n

The earth was drawn under their feet when interest rates were increased.<\/p>\n

Simply, they could not pay up; defaults\u00a0 inevitable.<\/p>\n

Pundits did not know basic human behaviour<\/p>\n

but the bankers had their way, giving out dud loans<\/p>\n

and the Fed changing interest rates<\/p>\n

Led to a crash in the economy in 2008.<\/p>\n

The homes, the assets of the people crumbled<\/p>\n

and their worthy assets lay in ruins even today full seven years later<\/p>\n

It was a Humpty Dumpty having a great fall-never to be put back again.<\/p>\n

Then in Europe,\u00a0 Greece is in trouble without paying dues on its foreign debt<\/p>\n

The IMF and the EU insists on payment and advocates austerity,<\/p>\n

Little do they know that\u00a0\u00a0Austerity is the IMF\u2019s strategy\u00a0\u00a0to cause a Regime Change<\/p>\n

All have forgotten that the foreign debt comes from the days<\/p>\n

when the Greeks had to fight the Ottoman Caliphs and raised loans for that.<\/p>\n

That was centuries ago<\/p>\n

Why have today\u2019s people to suffer for that<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the Third World is in worse tatters<\/p>\n

Following the IMF and its Structural Adjustment,<\/p>\n

The countries were told to give up import\u00a0 and forex controls<\/p>\n

which once enabled them to manage with what they had<\/p>\n

They were advised to raise loans and spend<\/p>\n

Borrow and spend made them indebted.<\/p>\n

Exactly like Greece.<\/p>\n

Now it is their lot to rack their brains and raise further loans to pay up the debts<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the IMF like Shylock insists on repayment<\/p>\n

Little knowing that it was misadventure on their part, the cause.<\/p>\n

It is Austerity, wage cuts, mor\u00e9 taxes<\/p>\n

They fail to understand that Austerity can bring a saving,<\/p>\n

but never Growth, Production and Income<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meanwhile China has kicked the IMF\u2019s preachings<\/p>\n

Goes ahead from strength to strength<\/p>\n

That is what I saw, a country full of vigour and strength<\/p>\n

Peoples power to the fore, undeterred, bashing ahead<\/p>\n

The Trans Siberian shows us the way.<\/p>\n

The rumblings of the train shall never leave my head.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thanks be to Trailfinders, to Matthew, for planning our trip,<\/p>\n

To our able Guides who knew it all<\/p>\n

And to the friendly wonderful people,<\/p>\n

I am sorry to have left them behind<\/p>\n

Best Wishes to them all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Garvin Karunaratne<\/p>\n

For more reading:<\/p>\n

Garvin Karunaratne; How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka, Godages, Colombo<\/p>\n

China Development at the Seams; The Nation.lk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Garvin Karunaratne Two days well spent in Moscow Our Guide Olga showed us the way The Kremlin and the imposive buildings The Diamond Fund showing\u00a0 the regalia of Russia Gone are the misadventures in the economy, Gorbachov, is no more, Gone are his Perestroika and Glasnost Gifted with a\u00a0 Noble Prize he lives in luxury\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-garvin-karunaratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}