As the informal economy gained strength, the formal economy kept weakening, as capital kept being allocated towards the informal economy. The parallel economy over the last ten years has continued to gain strength, growing by more than five times if currency in circulation is considered as a proxy. Increase in tax collection in nominal terms is celebrated as some kind of achievement, when in fact the inability to even beat inflation in terms of growth is a resounding failure.Ĭurrency in circulation makes up almost 20 per cent of our GDP, and is potentially in excess of Rs8 trillion – this is Rs8 trillion of cash sloshing around in the economy, driving demand, and creating a parallel undocumented economy. If there is anything on which there is national consensus, it is a belief that we are special, and basic principles of economics are not really relevant for us, even though the same are relevant for other countries in the world.Īn unhealthy obsession with debt to fund perennial budget deficits, and a complete failure to increase tax revenues in line with the expansion of the economy has led to a situation where the state has completely crowded out the private sector, as it takes up an increasingly large chunk of the formal capital available in the economy. Propping up a cash-based economy, reallocating and directing capital towards unproductive areas like real estate, and refusing to believe in basic economic principles, are some of the policy errors we continue to commit. Since we do not like learning from past mistakes, we are destined to make the same mistake as if we are cursed to do so. (It’s recommended that you listen to this on Spotify as their embed only has 200 songs.Successive administrations with similar faces recycled for over three decades till they reach an expiry date have come up with the same prescriptions for the economy, which to no one’s surprise have consistently failed. “Stuck in the Middle With You” Official Music Videoĭid you miss a Certain Song? Follow me on Twitter: Certain Songs DatabaseĪ filterable, searchable & sortable somewhat up to date database with links to every “Certain Song” post I’ve ever written. Of course, now doubt part of that was its use in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs in the mid-1990s - something that I’m required by law to mention when writing about the song - but even without that, it would still probably be remembered as a classic 70s song.

Which, of course, it was: “Stuck in the Middle With You” was a massive massive hit, topping out at #6 on the Billboard Charts and #8 over in the U.K., the only time they even came close to the top 10 (though Rafferty’s awesome “Baker Street” - which I somehow totally forgot to write about, because I’m either a clown or a joker - made it to #2 a few years later), and has been a rock staple ever since, having been streamed over 400,000,000 times on Spotify. It’s quite literally a song that could only have been a hit in the early 1970s. I love how the whole song comes to a dead halt, except for a single cowbell, as Rafferty sings “pleeeeeeeease”. That’s Egan adding the harmony vocals, and either Rafferty or Egan playing a cool staccato rhythm guitar part while lead guitarist Paul Pilnick wraps his slide guitar all around the song, all of which comes together on a bridge that’s nearly as cool as the chorus.Īnd you’re proud that you’re a self-made man Oh wait, that’s not it: he’s describing a record company party where the band got signed, and how he and - presumably - his partner, Joe Egan, are the only people at the whole godsdamned party with a lick of sense, leading to one of the most well-known and parodied choruses in pop music history: I’m so scared in case I fall off my chairĪnd I’m wondering how I’ll get down the stairs I got the feeling that something ain’t right Well, I don’t know why I came here tonight Opening with an acoustic guitar, rumbling bass and handclap(!)-dominated rhythms, “Stuck in the Middle With You” wastes no time digging right into singer Gerry Rafferty’s dilemma: he wants to be Bob Dylan. “Stuck in the Middle With You” came out at almost the exact moment I fell in love with KYNO-AM and spent all my time listening to it, and even though I don’t think I ever bought the single, it was definitely one of my favorite songs of 1973, and looking back, it’s pretty easy to see why.

Here i am stuck in the middle with you