Being on H4 visa in US

The USCIS recently passed a law to allow spouses of H1B visa holders who are in US on H4 visa to apply for Employment authorization through an EAD,in cases where the I140 form has been approved for the H1B holder.

This change in rule has brought about a huge sigh of relief among the families of the Indian community in US.Over 90 000 applications for H4 -EAD came through by December 2015,a few months after the legislation was approved.

It was high time that the US gets rid of this no brainer restriction.In fact the USCIS should go a step further and stamp the EAD for H4 workers the moment they enter US.Countries like Canada and Australia are much more friendly in this regard as they allow both the husband and wife to work without restrictions once the visa gets through.

H1B is a work visa for high skilled workers and its not rocket science to realize that most of the folks on H1B are married to people who are graduates or even post graduates in many cases.


1.The US economy would instantly benefit by allowing the spouses of these H1B workers to work in the States.They would pay for taxes and social security.Some of them might even turn out to be entrepreneurs and employ Americans,thereby expanding the economy.

2.Getting an opportunity to work would provide the spouses to feel a part of the American life as most of them get stuck into feeling homesick,depressed or end up in cases of domestic abuse in worse instances.They feel that their prime of life gets wasted.

3.Immigrants form the backbone of the US economy.With the baby boomers retiring by 10 000 per day in the coming day,it becomes critical for US to replace these workers with a younger talented workforce.The spouses of many of these H1B workers feel inclined to go back to India or their native countries after a couple of years due to the helpless feeling of being non productive.

The US would need to loosen up these nonsensical restrictions on its immigration policies if it has to continue remaining an attractive destination for the best brains around the world.Is Donald Trump listening?

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Is the Internet making us smarter or dumber?

Is the internet making us smarter or dumber?Are the millenials becoming smarter with the smart phone or are they going south ?

The answer won't be a binary.Yes ,in may aspects.The brain is not wired to handle multiple thoughts at the same time which is exactly what a smart phone makes you do.When you log into facebook or twitter and start reading an article,a whatsapp message pops out and your brain forces you to halt the article and switch to the whatsapp.Suddenly,yet another advertisement pops up which further steals your attention and diverts you from the article.This constant bombardment of information is not necessarily good.The question is how much of this information really gets filtered down as knowledge or gets applied in your life.

Of course the internet brings with it tons of positives which the previous generation did not have access to.You could check the weather,book flight tickets,look at the reviews of the latest gadget or restaurant down the block,do a background check on someone,transfer money to family,start your video channel all from the comfort of wherever you are.

However the biggest curse of the internet seems to be the drastic drop in memory and concentration levels with the previous generation.If you talk to folks from the previous generation,we would realize that they might not be a jack of all trades but you could bet on them to deliver quality in their area of specialization.On the contrary the current generation seems to take the path of being jack of all trades and master of none.

Constantly being on the internet tends to make people easily irritable and impatient.It does take patience to lock oneself in a library without any external distraction and finish a book.

It would be interesting on how the brains of this and the future generations would evolve in the coming years with the advent of social media.

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Social media and living life in a binary mode

With the advent of the like button in facebook,users have started to look life in a binary mode.Either you like something or does not.Recent reports hint that facebook is contemplating bringing on a dislike button.It would have made more sense if facebook had an option of an equivalent of "seeing things in grey".

Everything in life has a an upside and a downside to it & completely depends on the perspective.Liking and disliking encourages kids to take a binary view of life which would negatively impact their thought process.

With all the pluses that social media brings,the binary mode seems to be one of the biggest cons.Studies prove that the time you spent on social media,higher the chances of you getting irritated and depressed easily for the simple reason that people tend to put their best selves on instagram or facebook.If things are not going well & you look at a friends profile filled with exotic pics and yummy food,chances are that you will end up depressed rather than feel good for your friend.

You might like the pic for the sake of it but your heart might not necessarily agree with your head.As a result,there are chances for people to lead hypocritical lifes where they mistake crass materialism for true happiness.This is not to deny all the great benefits that social media brings with it.

However,the millenials would do well to use this great blessing of our generation with the right dosage.

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The credit score saga !

If you have lived in the United States, a lot of your thoughts would surround around the 2 words : "CREDIT SCORE".

Maintaining a good credit has become equivalent between poverty and survival in this country.

Your credit score is supposed to show on how you fare in paying off your credit card bills and managing your finance

The question is whether the credit score system is a good system.






From personal experience, some of the cons that I see on the system are :

• Students who pass out of college with a heavy student load of around 30 000 $ and don't end up finding a decent job which pays at least 50 000 $ per annum in 6 months,life is going to be hard for them.They are forced to work multiple part time jobs to make ends meet.They are sucked into the credit system at a young age.This kind of a vicious system doesn't allow you to pursue fields like arts and creativity which involve a longer period for a person to establish.
• The credit system makes it difficult for you to go on a sabbatical or make a career switch as your score would take a deep plunge the moment you stop paying the required credit card payments and the bank balances go down.
• If you go through a divorce and end up paying child care support and a heavy alimony,your finances could be ruined which in turn could nose dive your credit score in a short amount of time.The financial pressure could break a person and make him or her depressed and feel left out.
• Parents discourage children from staying with them after they turn 18 as they don't want their credit scores and finances to be affected by standing as guarantor for loans for their kids.This breaks the bond between kids and their parents.Kids don't care a hoot for their parents especially if the parents don't share their college or dorm fees.

Supporters of the system argue that :

• The system works well for a person or family who is financially stable.The system ensures that you pay your bills on time and manage your credit cards well.

The question we should be asking is ,shouldn't we move emphasize more a DEBIT Score rather than a Credit score?The debit score could look into how much you try to save per month or paycheck once you settle in your career.The idea should be to encourage individuals and families to save rather than pay their credit card bills systematically.The 2 six letter words that the US would need to fix in the 21st century if they have to remain a superpower is : 1)Family 2)Savings.

The FED has so far had the luxury of printing and pumping cash indiscriminately.This cannot go on forever and would eventually require families to save.Earlier the better.The fundamental model of the US economy would change if another recession was to strike & people might switch over to the savings model rather than the consumption model.

America in the 21st century

Economists,foreign policy watchers and politicians are hotly debating the question - "Is the US on the decline" ?

This question will not be a straight forward yes or now.Detailed analysis on various aspects of national life would be required.

1)Healthcare:

The US healthcare system is exorbitant and costs continue to spiral.The Affordable Care Act brought on by the Obama administration was a step in the right direction hoping to make Healthcare affordable and mandatory.The results however doesn't look bright.Obamacare has succeeded in enrolling more Americans for healthcare through the exchange program.Heavy fines are imposed under this program if a family remains uninsured during the calendar year.

However,on the downside,it has resulted in big players like Anthem&Cigna joining hands and capturing larger market shares to keep their profits in check.

US lags way behind countries like Germany,Denmark and Sweden where healthcare is much cheaper and services more efficient.

It has become impossible for any senator to challenge the drug companies from the costs constantly as their fundings would take an immediate hit.However in the above countries,drug companies are under the ambit of the government and are forced to keep the prices of drugs within a range.


2)Education:

US primary education standards are on the downhill as per many studies.However,US continues to excel in its post graduate and research programs.US is still able to attract the best brains from around the world and they continue to make it their home.

However,the future immigration policies of subsequent governments would have a strong say on if this trend would continue onto the 21st century.


3)Foreign policy:

The US has come under heavy criticism from around the world after the twin blunders of Iraq and Afghanisthan.Its a fact that US hegemony will be on the decline as we move into the 21st century.Putin moving Russian forces into Syria in support of Assad is a clear sign that the cracks of US foreign policy are starting to backfire.


BRICS ( Brazil ,Russia,India,China , South-Africa) & Israel would take stronger roles in fighting terror in the coming decades and would continually challenge US foreign policies.We are already seeing evidences of this with China investing massively in Africa and building islands in South China sea against US interests.

However US continues to have the largest military budget & military bases by far comparing to any other country.


4)US Debt :

The US debt would spiral into trillions with the baby boomers set to retire in the next 5-10 years.Social security and medicare bills are a ticking time bomb on the treasury.

Given the fact that majority of the US debt is held by China,the next President would have a tightrope diplomacy to maintain.He or she will not be in a position to act indiscriminately against China.

Any massive selling of US debt would lead to a crash in the dollar which could trigger a further recession.


5)Family & Savings :

The American mindset would have to learn to respect these two crucial 6 letter words if they are to prosper in the 21st century.

a) Family : 

Countries like India where the families are closely knit are closed from external shocks in economies primarily because families step in when members are in an economic crisis and hence there is a lesser dependency on the government.Medical insurance and health care is extraordinarily cheap and hence children take charge of the parent's medical bills once they enter into old age.Hence the government is freed up of social security and medicare bills.This behavior has been culturally embedded into their DNA whereas in the US , "independence" is an overly rated virtue.


b)Saving :

Families in India run on the debit transactions unlike US where everything runs on credit.Hence,children are continually encouraged to save from childhood.Banks do not lend home loans unless you shell in 20% of the down payment.Hence India did quite well even as the housing market in the US crashed.


6)Immigration:

The US immigration story has been a great success over the decades.However the Republican calls to cut down on H1B visa's to 20 000 doesn't look promising.H1B visa's are issued to highly skilled workers like IT professionals,doctors and engineers.

The Republican fear mongering is against the stand of stalwarts like Bill Gates who have called on the US government to issue infinite H1B visas as these workers are highly skilled and are more often than not would end up starting ventures in the US in the long run and create more jobs.

The US would continue to flourish as long as it continues to bring in the best brains & minds.
Accepting Syrian refugees is a different debate altogether and the 2 issues are often mixed up by the right wingers while debating.

The world needs America to keep doing well into the 21st century and let's hope the legislators make all the right choices in the days ahead.


For feedback ,write to anandurz@gmail.com

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A take on the global economy and political scenario - 2016

The housing market has been on upswing over the last year.US real estate prices are back to the 2008 days.Seller's who bought their property at the peak of the bubble around 2004-2006 period had to wait a decade to back their equity.

The question is whether the rise of the US economy this time is for real.Critics like Jim Rickards have criticized the Fed heavily and strongly believes that another stronger,longer recession is around the corner. Rickards points out that the FED has been indiscriminately pumping in cash to keep the inevitable from happening.Another possibility that he points out is that the next global recession could be triggered with the collapse of the Chinese economy and not from home grown market forces.The Chinese -US economic tango is well documented.China holds majority of the US stock to keep the yuan low and hence keep its position of a manufacturing hub intact.If a scenario occurs where the Chinese does a massive sell of the US foreign debt, the markets could tailspin into panic mode and would prove to be a domino effect too strong to withhold.

In between,buying in the US market has gone on an upswing with the employment rate looking good.Critics like Rickards again point out that the jobs that are created are part time jobs not full time stable jobs.

People prefer to buy rather than rent.Most people in US would be happy to see their house prices appreciate close to 1 to 3 %.Gone are the crazy expectations of massive increase in real estate value after the hard lessons of the recession.Statistics of properties sold show that the high sales are in the range of 350 000 $ to 450 000 $ in a place like Minneapolis which could be considered a upper middle class range.This again does points out that the real definition of middle class in US needs to be clearly defined.Families earning 200 000 $ per annum consider themselves middle class in US.Considering that the average family income of a US family is 56 000 $ , this does not make sense.

The rise of Bernie Sanders in the upcoming elections is a clear indicator that the middle class is increasingly feeling isolated from mainstream.Democratic socialism is making waves in US.With most of the democracies going right wing across the world,it would be interesting to see how Right wing conservatism from the likes of Donald Trump would come out in the election.

Accepting Syrian refugees &  Islamic terrorism is again a hot area of debate on the election trail.The Democrats have been continually refusing to use the work "Islamic terror" and argue that forming a coalition and air strikes are the way forward.The Republicans on the other hand have been blowing the fear trumpet.Tedd Cruz and Trump have come heavily on Obama for the Iran deal and for not sending in ground troops.However Cruz and Trump have not explained on how they plan to finance another US ground troop invasion.

Europe is struggling with the biggest exodus of immigrants after the World War.Recent incidents of sexual assaults on women by refugees in Cologne on New Years' eve has led to the popularity ratings of Angela Merkel falling.David Cameron has called for more purposeful expression of liberal values.With the Euro in a crisis,it would be interesting to see if Britain chooses to remain with the EU or drop out of it in the days to come.France has joined the US led airstrikes after the attack in Paris.

Putin has snatched the initiative from the West with Syria.He has made it clear that keeping Assad in power is the best option at the point.Putin has realized that the US hegemony after the double blunders of Iraq and Afghanisthan is on the decline.

Meanwhile in India,Modi government is trying to push through key reforms like GST with a disruptive opposition like Congress playing spoiltsport.It would be critical for a Modi let BJP government to assume power again in 2019 if the key initiatives like Make In India,Digital India and financial inclusion of the poor are to take place.

2016 would be a key year to watch.


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Changing equations in Syria - ISIS , the West & Russia

The lead that Putin has taken has changed the equations in the war against ISIS fundamentally.The US hegemony has taken a beating with Putin sending Russian aircraft and ground troops.

Putin has forced Obama's popularity back home to take a beating with his "don't give a damn about the West approach".This has also forced Assad to be viewed through a totally different prism.Pushing out Assad was the US plan.This will not be an easy option anymore.

Obama is under increasing pressure daily with the Republican rants increasing by the day for sending in ground troops.This will not be as easy as Donald Trump makes it sounds to be.ISIS was a direct consequence of the political vacuum left after toppling of Saddam.The West ,no matter how much it tries to suppress this dimension cannot hide from reality.

The equipment that ISIS uses is the hardware of the Iraqi army.The source of their money is oil smuggled outside in black market.

The debate continues to torment the West primarily with questions from 3 areas:

1)How do you stop ISIS from recruiting people from around the world?Would you call radical Islam a problem?
2)Does the West have to send in ground troops to deny ISIS geographical territory?Can the West afford to get into another long haul battle?
3)How should Assad be handled?

While all this plays out,the Arab states has stood as silent watchers.Saudi Arabia has been accused of funding money to ISIS .Qatar,UAE,Kuwait and other nations from OPEC have not taken in even a single Syrian refugee.The West's double games are not helping in this case.

The biggest threat to this spaghetti situation is for the West to remain mute to the diabolical policies of Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries.

The next president of the United States would have a lot of tough calls to make.In an ideal world ,the United states would look to multiply its domestic oil production and calling the bluff of countries like Saudi Arabia.Obama does not have the intent nor the resolve to shift US foreign policy in this direction which would require a lot of guts.

India,China and the sub continent has primarily remained a watcher to this whole series of affairs.Pressure would mount on Narendra Modi and Xi JinPing is the ISIS manages to stage an attack in the subcontinent or South East Asian region.

The tailspin into a bottomless pit would continue till the West calls a bluff on the duplicity of the OPEC nations.Unfortunately , there does not seem to be light at the end of the tunnel any time soon


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