THE ECONOMY OF RECURRENCE

THE ECONOMY OF RECURRENCE

By Kartik Lokhande
Sometimes, teenage conversations leave a long-lasting impression – positive or negative. In one of such conversations, I had asked an influential person from the ward we lived in, “Uncle, why do not the municipal authorities make a good-quality thick tar road that does not get damaged by rains every year?” The man, who happened to be a worker of a political party and also a contractor, replied with a smile, “In that case, how will we get work, beta? Besides, if there is nothing to complain about, will the voters come to us with a demand or two?” Not quite understanding what he meant, I gave him a smile and conversation ended there.
After more than a decade-and-a-half, today, I realize what he wanted to say. When I see that roads are laid only to last for a year or so, I realize what he meant. When I hear and read that only rains are to be blamed for damage of roads every year, I realize that then, the man could not devise a better explanation for recurring expenditure on maintenance of roads. When I see that British period bridges, roads, and buildings have survived many a rainfalls for more than a few decades, I realize that those who constructed quality roads, bridges, and buildings had not paid attention to ‘recurring expenditure’ part of the story when they thought of constructing a structure that would last for too many years. And, this is the story of ‘Economy of Recurrence’. Apart from roads, there could be a lot many stories that impress upon India’s switch-over from ‘economy of sustenance’ to ‘economy of recurrence’.
In my childhood days, at my maternal uncle’s house, I saw aunty cooking meals in brass utensils. For specific food contents, there were copper wares. To store water also, brass pots were used. As I grew up with the changing economic scenario, I saw useful-for-long brass utensils being replaced by german, aluminium, and stainless steel utensils and pots. Stainless steel pots became fashionable soon. Quantity was enormous. Brass and copper wares were sold into markets as ‘old scrap’.
After a decade or so, people started realizing that steel utensils had to be replaced within a few years. Some started switching over to brass and copper wares again. However, by then, brass and copper wares had become costly as they were being treated as quality material and decorative significance also was being attached to them. Today, brass and copper wares are seen more in plush hotels and restaurants than homes. For households, steel offers a relatively cheaper option though expenditure on purchases of steel wares is more recurring than that was on brass and copper wares.
Similar is the story of clothes. Some 50 years back, people wore clothes that did not lose lustre soon. Those clothes did not get damaged within a few months. A lot many mill workers’ sweat had gone into making of clothes then. The scene changed, gradually. Especially, the last 25 years saw introduction of light-fabric clothes with attractive colours. In the past 10 years, lustre of clothes got magnified by impressive illumination in malls. There are a lot many choices in terms of colours, texture, yarn, and style. Quantity has replaced quality slowly. Still, quality exists somewhere. But, clothes of which lustre does not go soon, colours do not fade early, and thread does not thin fast, come with higher price tags and big brand names today.
Even in modern days, there is an example of how ‘economy of volume’ has opened up many choices of ‘use-and-throw’ quality. Just a decade back, there were models of mobile phones that were so sturdy that falling down once or twice did not affect their functionality much. Today, there are too many choices in mobile phone models ranging from touch-screens, tab-phones, to touch-and-type ones. The ‘old’ look is replaced by ‘bold’ look. However, not many of them last for long and they have to be changed within a couple of years, adding the recurring expenditure on this count to the expenses chart of buyers. There are several such examples. Like, if refill in your pen goes dry, you have to buy a pen as refills are mostly unavailable. Thus, one has to spend more on pens than maintaining the same pen by way of inserting a new refill.
Apart from recurring expenditures, there is another angle to the story. Even at the risk of diversion, let me provide a peep into that angle. In some other countries on the planet, there is a concept of ‘throwaway products’ that is haunting buyers with diminishing or stagnant income. These products were first conceived in post World War II period. Then, reasoning was given that more jobs would be created if more goods were produced and discarded fast. What followed was an era of replacement of cloth napkins with disposable napkins, handkerchiefs were replaced with facial tissues etc. Today, these countries are concerned about environmental degradation effected by huge tracts required for dumping the ever-rising garbage of disposables. They are more concerned about environmental aspect than recurring expenditure. They believe that economy of scale has reduced cost of goods but has increased cost of environmental upkeep manifold. And, that is another aspect of ‘economy of recurrence’ as far as goods are concerned.
All these indicate only one thing – economy has grown by leaps and bounds only in volume and not in substance. Expenses have risen at a very fast pace in the name of mobilisation of capital in the market. Instead of improving quality of goods, focus is more on quantitative production as it yields profits. After all, if you produce an item that lasts long, who will come to your shop again soon?
Of course, economists may have many more reasons to defend this economy of recurrence. But then, will it not be logical if economy grows on quality instead of quantity? Will it not be saner to act accordingly when we often quote, “A penny saved is a penny earned”? Will it not bring down costs of maintenance if quality goods are more in the market? Probably, answers to these questions are not in the interest of market-driven economy. That is why, roads are constructed to get damaged soon so that contractors continue to get work and items/goods are manufactured to generate more demands soon.
However, still, there are players who pay attention to quality and have become brands of trust. These companies have quality control cells that work seriously and attach more importance to customer satisfaction than mere mass production. There are countries that accord more priority to citizen satisfaction as far as provision of basic amenities is concerned. May their tribe grow and Indian policy-makers take a cue from them. After all, a developing country like India cannot afford to incur recurring expenditure when there are a lot many priorities --like accessibility of everyone to everything-- waiting to be addressed.