Rahul remains as one of the best Indian batsmen in the T20 format. His performance during IPL 2020 was nothing short of spectacular. Surya Kumar Yadav is a promising batsmen, but I don't know whether he is ready for the big stage yet. I don't want him to end up like Sanju Samson. He will be facing Archer/Jordan/Wood, who are some of the best bowlers in the international cricket right now. A couple of failed chances may destroy his confidence.

There are two sides to this. Rich people may argue that they are paying taxes at a higher level compared to the poor and the middle class and therefore they have less disposable income in terms of net proportion. For someone who pays 50% to 55% of his income as tax, it may not be possible to take another 10% cut for charity. But those who have a tax burden of 10% or 15% will be able to take that cut.

I disagree with the OP. Take the case of stock market. Jeff Bezos own 11% of the Amazon shares, which is having a net worth of around $170 billion. Elon Musk owns 21% of Tesla. These people have a greater ownership compared to you and me, because they were the early adopters. That's how things work in the mainstream market. You take the risk and you get rewarded. But there is another side to it. I got my first BTC in 2012, when the exchange rate was just $10 per coin. But in due time, I sold around 80% of my coins. That means that many of the early adopters are selling their holdings before the peak prices are achieved. This is in turn beneficial for the late entrants.

I don't know how much truth is there in such arguments. If that was the case, hardly anyone should be residing in states such as California, where the tax rates are insanely high. But rather than leaving California, rich people seems to be flocking towards that state. Rich people have their own business interests and other assets. They will stay in a region where it is possible to increase the profits from these assets. Those who leave will be hardly contributing anything to the economy, as most of their wealth will be in the liquid form.

$25 billion boost from the stimulus cheques is going to be huge. At the same time, it will be a big mistake to underestimate the cryptocurrency sector in India. There are 10-20 million active users there, and they hold around 3% to 4% of the total cryptocurrency market cap (~$50 billion). Obviously the numbers are not as big as what they have in the US or EU, but $50 billion isn't a small figure either.

Surprising to see BTC going down despite this good news. Bitcoin was trading at $61,000 a couple of days back and now the rate has declined to $55,000. Ideally it should be going up, considering the fact that a lot of those who are going to receive the stimulus cheques will use them to purchase assets such as Bitcoin, gold and equity. IMO, the current dip looks like a short-term phenomenon before the next bull run. We can expect a spike in exchange rates during the next few days, boosted by the stimulus payments.

Well.. in a sense, that is true. Nowadays performance in the IPL is the primary criteria for selection in to the national team (in all the three formats). The problem for the selectors is that there are too few slots, and too many contenders. So eventually they need to drop some players, even if they perform really well. But it will be really disappointing for these players (such as Kishan and Yadav), if they are not selected.

BTW, I have one crazy suggestion for the T20 World Cup. Why can't the ICC allow two teams from India? One the regular Indian side captained by Virat Kohli, and the second a India A team (captained by someone like KL Rahul?). I checked the teams that are participating in the T20 World Cup. There are teams such as Oman, which are entirely comprised of expats from India and Pakistan (without a single Omani citizen). So what is the point here? Rather than allowing these expat teams, the ICC can instead allow India to field one more team in the World Cup.

LOL.. in all probability, by the end of Biden's term China will be the largest economy in the world, overtaking the United States. The mounting federal debt will drag down the United States, and an increase in corporate tax will make it much worse. The COVID 19 pandemic has made things relatively easy for China. Their economy is now back on track, while the United States continues to suffer from 4-digit deaths every day as a result of the virus.

I am against the idea of resting Rohit Sharma. I think he needs some match practise, especially in the T20 format. The last time he played a T20 match was more than 4 months ago, during the IPL 2020. Ishan Kishan has made his point during the last match and now it is up to Surya Kumar Yadav to showcase his skills. And regarding Rahul, he is like a regular in the Indian team and don't need to worry about the temporary dip in form. I am sure that he'll come back strongly in the upcoming IPL.

Nearly 10% of the $380 billion in stimulus checks may be used to buy bitcoin and stocks: survey

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nearly-10-of-the-380-billion-in-stimulus-checks-may-be-used-to-buy-bitcoin-and-stocks-survey-131009531.html



I had previously posted about this. The stimulus can be one of the best things ever to happen for Bitcoin. 10% looks like a conservative number for me, but even that much amount can cause a huge rally in Bitcoin exchange rates and completely disrupt the supply-demand equilibrium currently prevailing in the cryptocurrency market.

There is some excellent news for the Big 3 supporters. The ICC (Big 3 faction) has successfully sabotaged the proposal to include cricket in 2028 Olympics (which will be held in Los Angeles, United States). So as usual, the discussion now moves to the proposal to include the sport for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Cricket Australia is in favor of including cricket in 2032 Games. BTW, the ICC is saying that they are not ready for the inclusion of cricket for the 2028 or 2032 editions, but may consider for the 2036 version. Going by their delaying tactics, I don't expect cricket to be included in Olympics before 2220.

https://cricketaddictor.com/cricket-news/cricket-amongst-the-sports-willing-to-be-part-of-the-2032-brisbane-olympics/

It is not going to matter. Whether they are storing their wealth in the form of Bitcoin, Bullion, Equity or real estate, they need to pay the capital gains tax at the time they sell these assets. I don't think that demand for Bitcoin is proportional to the increase in taxes. On the other hand, it is proportional to the inflation of US Dollar. For those who want to hide their wealth, Bitcoin is obviously one of the better choices.

This is not the first time they are doing it. Right from the case with personal computers in 1980s, to internet in 1990s, the Indian government has taken a regressive view on new innovations. When internet first became popular in the 1990s, the Indian government tried their best to hinder the growth in their jurisdiction by imposing all sort of restrictions and regulations. The issue is very simple and straightforward. Most of the Indian politicians (and this is especially true with the case of ruling party politicians), don't have the skills or intelligence to understand new innovations.

And in the end, this is what happens:


Have to agree with DeathAngel. This is exactly what is going to happen.

Right now, there is not a single country where there is an oversupply of vaccine. Every country, including the United States is facing a shortage of enough vaccine doses. Therefore the possibility of some country donating vaccines to India is very minimal. Also, along with China and the US, India is one of the largest producers of the COVID 19 vaccine right now. Still they are facing a shortage of vaccine vials.

Well.. going at this rate, it may take another 3-4 years to make enough vaccines so that they could be distributed to low-risk groups. On top of that, some analysts are saying that the protection given by the vaccine will last only for 1 to 6 years. That means that those who received the vaccine needs another booster dose sometime in the near future? But I like the suggestion. Let those over 60 years get vaccinated. For the remainder of the population, we can go for the "herd immunity" approach.

To summarize, these are the proposals:

1. Increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%
2. Increasing the income tax for those who earn more than $400,000 per year
3. Increase in estate tax (not sure how much)
4. Increase in long-term capital gains tax for those with annual income of >$1,000,000 (not sure how much)

All of these will have negative consequences. If they increase the corporate tax, then the unemployment issue will get even worse. On paper, the democrats are claiming that they are taxing the rich. But the rich have most of their assets in offshore tax havens and this measure will end up mostly targeting the middle class.

Pollard is a T20 specialist, but nowadays the 50-over format is also becoming more like T20. Totals in excess of 350 are no longer rare in this format. Only negative is that he is not consistent. Also, he doesn't have the patience to stay at crease for some time, if the situation demands that. He is really good if he comes out to bat after the 40th over in an ODI. But if the team is in trouble and needs to build a partnership, then Pollard is not the most suitable person.

I have watched a few matches. It will be wrong to say that they are played without any seriousness. But the fitness level is not good for many of the players. It is not surprising, considering the fact that many of the players are aged 40 and above. Also they haven't played in a while. A few of the players have maintained excellent fitness levels, such as Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag of India, and Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka.

It doesn't matter whether fiat currency is made of paper, polymer or cotton. All of these components are damaging to the nature, and the most important thing to note here is that the fiat banknotes needs to be replaced after a few years of usage. Polymer banknotes may last more compared to those made from paper, but even they have a limited lifespan. The beauty with Bitcoin is that once it is mined, the coins are indestructible.

And I agree with the argument related to renewable sources of energy. As of now, they are more expensive when compared to coal or natural gas generated electricity. But the gap is narrowing very rapidly, and very soon electricity from the renewable sources will be on par with that from non-renewable sources as far as the cost is concerned. In 2018, the average cost of solar generated electricity was estimated at $0.085 per KWh. Not as cheap as coal generated electricity, but not that high either.

It doesn't surprise me. First of all, the Indian government (ever since 1947) has taken a stance that is against innovation. That is the reason why India, despite having the largest number of IT engineers don't have corporations such as Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Every year 100,000 or more of the most educated and skilled Indians renounce their citizenship and take the nationality of other countries (primarily the US and the UK).

And the current government is a mild version of the socialists regime in Venezuela. They have used the tactic of freebie distribution to win elections in an extremely efficient way. In order to distribute freebies, they need money. They are robbing the rich Indians (including the cryptocurrency users), so that they can give handouts to the slum dwellers and other poor people.