Damned Lies and Statistics, remarked Mark Twain. I am reminded of that when I get to see the Inflation figures released by the Govt of India.

The Govt says that it is taking all efforts to prevent India from slipping into Deflation. Steps taken by the Govt apart, let us first analyze, How real is the threat of India slipping into deflation in the first place? If Roger Federer were to lose to the 500th ranked player in a Grand Slam tournament, then yeah India too would slip into deflation.

There are strong reasons for me saying this, New found optimism coupled with Reduction in Production of Crude has meant that Crude Oil is on the rise again as a consequence of which Fuel prices back home have been hiked. Fears about the Monsoon has meant that prices of Groceries and Vegetables which were already high have risen further and I would say it is almost getting out of ordinary people like me.

To put it across more clearly, a middle class family which was managing its show with 5,ooo INR would now require around 6,500 to 7,000 INR to sustain the same standard of living and here we have the Government speaking about Deflation and steps to propel the Economy.

Now you call that deflation???

Seems like the Govt has got some special parameters on which it measures Inflation. It would be great if they can furnish those parameters so that the common people like me can actually understand what does the Govt mean when they use the terms "Inflation" and "Deflation".