ECONOMIC RECESSION AND VIVEKANANDA VEDANTA
Part - 1 Introduction It’s official. We are amidst a serious economic crisis now. We are in recession. Gigantic nations like the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and others have declared that they are in recession. Many measures at resolving the problem are being taken, and the results are what they are. In spite of the bailout and the $819-billion stimulus package by the United States Government alone, even the best brains in the economic field fail to predict what is in store in the future. Foreclosures, declaration of bankruptcy, and layoffs have become so alarming that at least one family of 5 committed suicide because the father lost his job. In one day, just in the United States, 70,000 jobs were lost. At least 100,000 jobs are about to be lost this week. There is suffering ahead. We don’t know until when. Thus, classical economics is what it is. It has shown its cruel face. Is there any other way to save ourselves? There are several great thinkers who have thought of, written about and are speaking about spiritual economics. But long ago, before anybody else could even think of it, Swami Vivekananda had foreseen problems of the world and had suggested means of overcoming or avoiding suffering. We can only present a few of his ideas. This article is about his ideas. Before mentioning the ‘10 commandments’ of spiritual economics of Swami Vivekananda, we shall see what the Internet has to say about the present crisis.
What is Recession? 1. What is Economic Recession? In economics, the term recession generally describes the reduction of a country's gross domestic product (GDP) for at least two quarters. The usual dictionary definition is "a period of reduced economic activity", a
1