Euthinophobia!!!

Euthinophobia is the Greek word for the fear of responsibility and duty, the word wouldn't have been coined by them for no reason. If that weren't the case then Greece Prime Minister Papandreou wouldn't ask for a referendum on the bail out deal which was considered to solve the crisis that threatened the global economy. Consensus that comes after long debates and sacrifice of 50% value of debt is now put to risk by a politically motivated decision.

May be Euthinophobia is a modest word for what is being done by Greece, it wouldn't be harsh to term it Economic Terrorism. EU is been cheated by Greece from the time the union was formed, fudging the numbers to join the Union to reporting wrong fiscal numbers when the country was running on high deficit. Despite this the current development comes as a big surprise, just because the country is about to say no to the only option available for them to avoid chaos in their country. May be the Greeks are dissapointed that they are not given 100% write off on the debt, rest of the world would laugh at it but they may consider it their right. Call it ignorance or arrogance it doesn't matter, the effect is same. Global economy along with Greece's suffers.

As Greece plays out this drama,  banks & global businesses would be on their toes speculating until December about the referendum results. Parliaments vote of confidence on Friday adds more spice & suspense to the game, any surprises here would put everything at risk immediately. Hopefully EU does some trick and gets the referendum cancelled so that the plan is implemented and all ends well. EU's trick may have to be a harsh & strong one for Papandreou to cancel it.

If no decision is taken on referendum cancellation then all major transactions & trades will be on hold for a month, paralyzing already troubled economy. This stuff is no good as people will get further risk averse reducing the flow of money in the already troubled economy.

If referendum were to take place with a nightmarish "No" to the debt deal package then hell breaks loose. The contagious effect kicks in bringing down the global markets with high probability of collapse of economic system which would take years to build again. Impact of this scenario playing out would be worse than 2008 when Governments had cash to bail out. Interesting  times to watch ahead, hope sense prevails and correct decisions for larger good are taken to resolve the issues.

For now no bets is a good bet, atleast until there is some clarity on which direction the politicians are headed.

No Silver Bullet!

EU Deal to write off 50% of Greece's debt could be a step in the right direction but no silver bullet. Risking only some of new money into the system EU is actually smoothened the imminent default by adjusting write offs over a period of time. It sure comes as a big relief in the midst of gloomy economic situation, but interesting aspect of it is the voluntary write offs. It needs to be seen if the voluntary write offs equals required 50% of the total debt to be written off. In addition EU will have to pay for the other 50% through some sources to keep Greece & Euro zone economy running.

At times it is good to let go things that are beyond repair, EUs approach to let go in a controlled way seems to be a practical one. Damage is done and there would be collateral damage because of this decision, but it wouldn't come as a rude shock like the 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. Greece could well be saved and in worst case scenario all the debts may be written off in a cal liberated manner and it may be asked to exit Euro for its rogue financial practices. If other Euro Zone countries were to default then the same solution may be considered appropriate because of the fiscal situation across the globe, but they may not face the situation of being thrown out of Euro.

If voluntary write off works then would it solve the current crisis? It wouldn't but it will not bring down the global economy crashing. Best case scenario growth could slow down and worst case scenario we could be in a recession for may be an year or two. It is going to take a while before balance sheets of all the countries start looking good again, until then it is going to be tough fight against the monster called debt.

For the global stock markets it is a good news at least for now, as the economy is more predictable because of the non catastrophic nature of the deal. Markets could be in a band and may be volatile but doesn't present the situation of a crash. This presents very good opportunity to predict cashflows and pick some good businesses to invest.

Having said this we could be in a catastrophic situation even after all the systematic write offs because of contagious nature of the problem and lack of required stimulus in the system. We are still in the risk zone until fiscal situation improves, but bets are on until the news of some country defaulting surfaces. Go long as long as countries don't fall short of cash.

How Foodrhythms Started?

Foodrhythms! The word got coined while reading a news paper when we were looking for a good name for our site. Intention was to look for something that summarizes what our application does, a name that means connecting all aspects of food, a name that rhymes well, a name that is novel and gives fresh perception to people when it comes to a foodie site. Synchro-destiny does work when the intention is strong to do something, and that is what happened when we found a name which meant synchronizing or getting People, Food, Fun, Business into a rhythm.

When we got started with development the idea was to do something new, appealing in the food space and at the same time help businesses and people grow. Various foodie sites are working in specific areas and none of them have the holistic framework that helps foodies, food & businesses connect.

Idea was not to be just another review site or just a menu uploading place or create repository of data. We wanted to engage food, people, & businesses in a dialogue and provide a platform that helps businesses promote themselves with no costs involved. Most importantly didn’t want to be another software company robbing the clients providing some trivial technical features.

We started gathering ideas and over a period of 1.5 years the product evolved into a complete social media framework that satisfies the appetite of foodies and helps businesses by providing a well integrated website on social media that interacts with the customers, reduces advertisement costs, builds a brand by itself and keeps pace with the rapidly changing technology.

Shakespeare said “Journey's end in lovers meeting” and our journey resulted in connecting fun and business. Foodrhythms is a visual treat for users with useful & attractive information shown to them to explore, experience and share through the platform. An opportunity for businesses to connect with the target audience in their cities and to promote using the social media features for viral effect. A well designed and beautiful framework for businesses to showcase themselves with no costs involved.

We believe in lean management and our endeavor has been to create a lean business process platform. Our algorithms working behind the scenes help connect in various ways to generate new business opportunities and are like the popular ad network engines to promote the businesses with no money spent. In true sense we tried adding value to the businesses and our efforts will be to make business simpler in this space.

We are inspired and motivated by response received after the launch on 15th Aug 2011, it is heartening to see foodies & well known businesses registering through word of mouth. Some of the prominent names have signed up with us and the number of impressions is growing fast. What we offered in the first release is tip of the iceberg and it is our promise to deliver lots more fun and business value.

Some of our Client Remarks

• "This is the best we have seen in food space"
• "Looks better than facebook and very useful features" (prefer taking facebook thing with a pinch of salt, still working to get there:) )
• "Has Royal Look and Feel"
• "We have been looking for this kind of platform"
• "Something of this kind was required"

www.foodrhythms.com

www.facebook.com/foodrhythms