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The consumption of performance enhancing drugs during tournaments by athletes is a hot topic for debate in the sports community. Should we legalize the use of administered drugs in limited quantities to enhance performance? With many players already consuming such drugs illegally, the supporters of the argument argue on three grounds. Firstly, better performance increases the quality of tournaments, attracts more viewership and increases the influence and acceptance of sports in general. Second, it improves the morale of sportsmen by creating a level playing field among them. Lately, with these drugs now being legal, the law of supply and demand will work to equalize prices and ensure better quality and administration of these drugs. The opposition runs on a different tangent. Besides the addictive consequences of consuming such drugs no matter in limited quantity, there are other long term harmful effects on the sportsmen that need to be considered. Many of them would now be forced to consume the drugs against their will just to ensure a level playing field, and the sense of balance, discipline and consistency so important in the life of a sportsman will eventually erode. Moreover, fantasizing human capabilities to show extremely high level non-human tournaments can also be considered not being fair to the public. Both sides presenting their arguments, which one are you tilting towards?

A new trend is on the rise - the widespread use of private armies. What if the support continues? What if things escalate to the next level and the military sector privatizes? Would we prefer such a world? One might argue the benefits to privatization in the military - better efficiency, less corruption, more accountability and transparency and proper utilization of public resources into better channels of avenue, lack of bureaucracy and red tapism to name a few. That being said, there are implications of a private company - a company solely interested in increasing their profits, revenue and satisfying their clientele - entering a highly protected defense sector. Even though there might be some truth to the lack of accountability, transparency and wastage of funds by the government, privatization might not be the optimal solution. In the situation that exists today, a private army organization will most probably be run as a cartel and their ability to raise the required huge amounts needed to run the organization will itself come from questionable sources. But more importantly, we need to take into account the rules of warfare being followed. By the very nature of privatization and these companies not being accountable to the general public, they would take into account just the needs of their clientele disregarding the impact it would have on the general public, danger to the country and the rule of law hampering the stability of a nation. Moreover, it is also important to introspect the kind of clientele hiring private armies apart from the government which would mostly belong to the category of extremist groups trying to push the narrative for their own collective good without caring much for the public consequences making a country more volatile. Also, hiring such services would be a privilege available only for the extremely wealthy and influential, furthering their agenda and dividing an already divided world further. Lastly, the sovereign nature of the state which exists to maintain peace would be questioned as well. So, the question is would you now support private armies?

As a minority artist, would you prefer to create utopic works of art over dystopian ones? There are many layers to such a decision. As an artist, one might have multitude reasons to create art - commercial purpose, fame, to record history, motivational tools etc. One might argue that since art has cognitive value creating dystopian art creates traction because of the sense of relatability. To portray what is closer to reality creates recognition and awareness both among the minority and the majority. Art thus becomes a medium to express voice, legitimize protests and gain community support. However there are two sides of a coin. In a world of self awareness by the minorities, utopian works of art have an aspirational value, a sense of hope and a push towards a better future. Psychologically, a utopian reality portrayed and consumed by all creates a shift in the bias and normalizes equalization. It creates a world of hope and belief for the minority which was inaccessible before. Given the binary we exist in today, the same piece of art is viewed differently by the majority and the minority. For a person of privilege, being painted as the worst and the ultimate villain might lead to more ignorance rather than any positive change. Whereas with little means of turning the face away from reality in a consumerist capitalistic world, utopic art creates a sense of hopeful escapism, although temporary. Given the binary, what would you prefer?

Since centuries, human beings have characterized greed as an immoral virtue but is being greedy really that individualistic or are there long term positive social changes that occur? Imagine living in a society which celebrates greed. Crimes, oppression, lack of trust towards one another, injustice and other related thoughts prop up. Billionaires would stop being philanthropic, large scale social movements would stop gaining traction, the underprivileged would suffer more in an already unjust world, hustle castle would gain prominence, the legal structure would break down and our seeming moral compass and checking mechanism would all go away. However, morality being a relatively subjective topic, there are deeper layers to understand and the world does not exist in a binary. The harsh reality of innate capitalism is limited resources, hierarchy, consumerism, monopolization and denied access. If we view greed as a greater societal concept, not being greedy can act as a stumbling block to evolution. It is in fact because of our greed to make lives more luxurious, the thirst for progress, that the greatest discoveries took place. In a world where altruism takes time to materialize and monopoly by the privileged is the dominating force, greed acts as a mechanism for positive change to break the existing barriers. Had the underprivileged and the oppressed classes given to the narrative not been greedy enough to dream a better life for them, the society would always keep them in the lowest ranks. Had people not been greedy enough to envision the best for themselves, there would be no motivation and the nerve wrecking life changing stories that we hear today would never exist. Without greed, the incentive to move up the ranks and the ability to break all the shackles would not exist. Moreover, the concept of morality has become flawed when viewed in terms of the changing circumstances and greed has become a convenient narrative for the privileged to keep themselves in the position of power. So ask yourself, would you prefer being a greedy person today?

Sundar Pichai is popular for sharing interesting anecdotes from his personal life with valuable lessons. In one such speech he traces this fascinating theory, where he alludes how he was sitting at a restaurant when he saw that out of the blue a cockroach flew and sat on a lady. Panic stricken, the lady screamed at the top of her voice and tried her best to get rid of the cockroach. To her relief, the cockroach flied away but now sat on another lady. This lady too made sure she screamed enough to scare the cockroach away. It flied and sat on another lady. The drama continued. This made Mr Pichai wonder how‘The Cockroach Theory’ applies to human beings in self-development, behavioural finance, and economics. The Cockroach Theory by its name sounds so peculiar, too hilarious to be called a ‘theory’ in behavioural finance and economics. However, more shocking than the name of the theory is the fact that it has ability to incur long run damages from bank runs to depressions to global financial crisis. An article from The Hindu outlined this theory as a phenomenon that “companies that report unexpected bad news to their investors may report even more negative news in the future”. Just like when we discover an unwanted cockroach say in the kitchen which suggests that there may be more cockroaches hiding somewhere, the bad news serve as a warning signal that suggests there may be more bad news upcoming. This theory becomes important for businesses to analyse the effects of negative news shared with a ‘rational being’, who is more than often, ‘not so rational’. On a macroeconomic level, The Cockroach Theory becomes a cause of concern because of the ‘trickle-down effect’ that it has the power to create in the economy. Every corporation is affected by internal and external causalities and if one company announces a negative news caused by an external cause, more so than often, other companies belonging to the same industry are not immune to that cause which poses a question of concern. This leads to greater government interference, who start investigating and scrutinising financial books of the companies in that sector. More importantly, this uncertainty leads to lowering of investor’s confidence, and if the news if negative enough, they would not hesitate to unload the shares of the companies of these sectors. This causes prices to fluctuate and leads to dampening effects in an entire sector, disrupting the economy. Thus, this theory proves to have far reaching consequences both on a micro (because it affects that particular company) and on a macro level. It is practically impossible for a cockroach to bite us to death, but after understanding The Cockroach Theory, can they? This flowchart explains the effects of The Cockroach Theory in the economy- crisis of confidencecrisis of liquiditycrisis of bankruptcy Examples of The Cockroach Theory in work are numerous. To take up a famous case, the Enron Scandal in late 2001,the biggest corporate bankruptcy to ever hit the world at that time and the largest audit failure can be traced to our theory. This is a story of the ‘riches to rags’ of the Wall Street darling which shook everyone to the core. The New York Times cited that when at its peak, the shares were trading at $90.75 which plummeted to $0.25 at the time of the scandal. A complaint to the US Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the top leadership basically made a fool out of everyone by off the book accounting practices (MTM- Mark to Market accounting), SPEs (Special Purpose Entities) and fake holdings to hide the mountain of debt that the company was crumbling over. This is where the cockroach comes in our story. The investors started losing confidence, selling their shares which led to more negative news, and it turned into a ‘vicious cycle’. The fall of one of the biggest US corporations because of malpractice and accounting fraud implied that other corporations, metaphorically more cockroaches may be involved in similar kinds of fraud. This was indeed true. BBC reported that Arthur Anderson accounting firm was guilty of similar charges. Over the course of time, WorldCom, Tyco, and Adelphia were brought down as well. Not only this, but the government also went on to implement the Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002 to make accounting and audit regulations more vigilant. The Wall Street could not keep their calm seeing this cockroach therefore, the trickle-down effect from a macroeconomic perspective came into play. Whenever we think of the greatest economic adversities to have hit the world, the 2008 global financial crisis tops all lists. It is fascinating to see how this crisis was triggered by The Cockroach Theory at play. Lax lending rules(this credit goes to the Federal Reserve which deviated from its main role to maintain financial stability and focused on keeping interest rates extremely low), cheap credit and excessive risk taking by the banks that led to the burst of the real estate bubble crumbling the entire economy. A publication by The Harvard Business School examines the case study of New Century Financial Corporation, one of the largest subprime loan originators and how it fuelled the 2008 crisis. After enjoying years of rapid economic progress, the financial company started facing liquidity issues, a classic case- because of an increase in the number of defaulting borrowers, bad loans and NPAs (non-performing assets). It was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and became the first contributor to the subprime mortgage meltdown. The existence of this cockroach hinted towards the existence of other cockroaches which was ultimately true. Reuters elucidates what New Century said in a court filing, “Without a prompt sale of the debtors’ mortgage loan servicing business and loan origination platform, those businesses will not be viable, and the value will be destroyed”. Another cockroach- American Home Mortgage Investment, was the next to tread its footsteps and declare bankruptcy followed by many other cockroaches. According to the Bankruptcy Examiner assigned to investigate New Century, the company's troubles "were an early contributor to the subprime meltdown" increasing government intervention, forcing banks to take losses around $250 billion in mortgage-linked securities and fuelling international financial crisis. Here too, The Cockroach Theory fits in perfectly leading to the viscous cycle of bad news and trickling down effects in the economy. An interesting view to ponder regarding this theory is how the failure of one company may negatively affect other companies even if other companies have good financial books. Oliver Blanchard, a French economist said that “Fear that a bank will close can actually cause it to close”. This is The Cockroach Theory and behavioural economics at work again. If one bank fails because of the negative news that bad loans have increased, it causes depositors of other banks to panic and withdraw their money as well forcing other banks to close. The discovery of one cockroach creates enough fear about the existence of other cockroaches which causes havoc among the public. The US financial history in the 1930s is full of such bank runs. The first of the bank runs were in Nashville, Tennessee which kicked off a series of bank runs. Around 650 banks failed in 1929 and the number rose to a whopping 1300 the next year. New York’s bank, which had more than $200 million deposits fell as well, making it the single largest bank failure in American history. The increase in the money demand in lieu of the deposits reduced the money multiplier effect which reduced the money supply and spending, dragging the economic growth for years to come. According to Ben Bernanke, the former US Federal Chairman, it was essentially the Federal Reserve System and the economic damage caused directly by bank runs that triggered the Great depression, which had staggering impacts worldwide. This is the power that our small cockroach has which at one point of time caused the largest economy of the world to dig into the deadly shallows of the Great Depression. Interestingly enough, I see The Cockroach Theory work in the banking crisis that India is facing currently. While RBI has been cleaning up the cooperative banks for a while now, the crisis at the large Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative bank, a cockroach in the present banking crisis had led to renewed attention. The collapse of PMC, because of fraudulent transactions to HDIL through fictitious accounts and violating banking regulations exposed the presence of other cockroaches as well. Upon investigation, it was found that PMC was not the only cooperative bank to default.Moneycontrol elucidated that RBI cancelled the license of CKP Co-operative Bank because of the mounting NPAs(approximately 97%).Restrictions were also placed on Bengaluru-based Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Niyamitha and Kolkata’s Kolkata Mahila Cooperative Bank. RBI also cancelled the license of Mapusa Urban Cooperative bank for financial failure. More so importantly, fear of the failure of the private sector banks can have devastating effects on the economy. The Indian forum cited, “These banks were licenced amidst huge hype and expectations, yet nearly half of them have run into financial trouble.” The case of Yes Bank wasextremely shocking which is the next big cockroach in our story. Despite once being a cynosure of Indian banking system, this bank was unable to raise capital because of the growing losses in NPAs leading RBI to bail them out. We have already detected a few cockroaches biting the banking system of India and both the RBI and the government of India are equally responsible for the same. The former Finance Minister Mr P Chidambaram said,“First, it was the PMC Bank. Now it is Yes Bank. Is the government concerned at all? Can it shirk its responsibility? Is there a third bank in the line?” The banking crisis has exposed the lack of governance and the need to revise the Banking Regulations Act, 1949(another revised version after 1960) to bring some stability into the system and keep up the investor’s confidence. Coming back to Sundar Pichai’s observation at the restaurant, we can relate to this theory on apsychological aspect as well. He explained it beautifully in a speech, “It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies. I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me. More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.” Through this we should learn the lesson that instead of reacting, we should always respond, whether dealing with finance, economics, or life. REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING 1. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/in-finance-what-is-cockroach-theory/article22852352.ece 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/business/worldbusiness/10iht-enron.1.5648578.html?_r=0 3. https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/comp17762.htm 4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2047122.stm 5. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cockroach-theory.asp 6. https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/3763 7. Oliver Blanchard - Macroeconomics (2017, Pearson).pdf(Chapter 4) 8. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/bank-run 9. https://www.federalreserve.gov/BOARDDOCS/SPEECHES/2002/20021108/ 10. https://www.hoover.org/research/how-government-created-financial-crisis 11. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=36497 12. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newcentury-bankruptcy-idUSN0242080520070403 13. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/09/08/chronology-2008-financial-crisis-lehman/2779515/ 14. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/business/13audit.html 15. https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/crisis-crisis 16. PMC Bank Crisis One Year On: No Resolution In Sight Yet (moneycontrol.com) 17. https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/economy/why-did-yes-bank-collapse-from-bad-loans-to-rbis-negligence-are-the-reasons

“How comfortable is it for them to identify as the most superior gender that are considered the flag bearers of the society? How comfortable is it for them to step outside their homes without being questioned upon? Several similar questions ponder upon the minds of all the women and other nonbinary when they fall slaves to the patriarchal society that celebrates masculinity above everything else. Patriarchal society has managed to give us a false expression of being benefactory to the males and oppressing the females. Whileall of us will surely that women are constantly looked down upon and have to fight for basic rights that are entitled to all human beings,patriarchy has not made the lives of men a cakewalk. The opportunity cost of being an “alpha male” in a patriarchal society is too high to bear for a human being- An issue other genders do not focus upon and men being the sole benefactors of this thrashing system are not supposed to talk about. Society has been successful in enforcing gender stereotypes right from the day we are born, where males are made to wear blue and women pink; and continues throughout adulthood where phrases like “real men drink scotch” are common. Males are exposed to this “toxic masculinity” right from the beginning when they are not supposed to cry and vent their feelings out because apparently, they have dysfunctional tear glands. When a man expresses his vulnerability, he is either mocked upon or scolded to “act more like a man”. They have to constantly live up to this myth of unrealistic masculinity that forces them inside a box- one I prefer to call the man box, to bottle up their feelings because if they do so, they become the weak pillars and how are these fragile pillars supposed to sustain their family? This uncalled burden that the society puts upon their shoulders makes them crumble as human beings, unable to express themselves truly. The society needs to understand that beyond the celebrated macho image lies a human being, as emotional and sensitive as other genders, who should be given equal treatment while communicating their vulnerability to be cared upon. Gender stereotypes affect all genders indiscriminately. It is shocking to see that in a crime cultured society, violence by men is encouraged upon. When a girl is handed a Barbie Doll at the age of four, we give our sons nerf guns to play with. This is not only prevalent in childhood stages but throughout our lives when gun manufacturing companies like Bushmaster use the slogans like “get a gun and approve your man card”.If the same son picks up a barbie at a toy store, he is told “don’t act like a girl”, becauseapparently today, being masculine means not being feminine at all. A boy is not supposed to be afraid of roller coaster rides in Disneyland. Bullying by boys and fighting amongst themselves are justified on the grounds that “boys will be boys”. In the teenage years when human beings already undergo severe change physically, mentally, and emotionally, there is an added peer pressure which constantly demands the proof of masculinity by them “getting some action”. A boy not having a high sexual appetite is not validated as a man and motivated by phrases like “man up”. A boy who chooses dancing than playing football is mocked upon. Not only that, once grown up, men need to look and act like the “so-celebrated men” in the society. If they shave their legs, they are ridiculed at. If they take care of their skin, they are ridiculed at. If they use too many beauty products, they are ridiculed at. If they go on to drink wine, they are ridiculed at. With so many present biases and misconceptions in the society, breaking the patriarchal nature of the society is as important for men as it is for women because this process will lead to their liberation too. When the society puts men on a pedestal, they also put them responsible as bread earners for their family. Hence, there exists unspoken restrictions inflicted upon them in terms of career choices. They are supposed to compete for high salaried jobs than pursue their dream jobs because that is how they are supposed to act. The role of a father is also highly unrecognised by the society. The mother is expected with parenting and nurturing the children and taking responsibility for her child’s behaviour. However, the role of a father in a child’s life is as important as that of a mother. Real freedom of choice will come when every individual is free to choose a career that makes them happy. Stay at home dads are highly looked down upon. One obstacle they constantly have to deal with is breaking stigmas and stereotypes. They are wrongly portrayed as clueless and lacking masculinity and society isolates them which breaks down self confidence and may lead to adverse health effects like depression. This is the cost men have to pay for not conforming to the traditional views of masculinity. If they go forward to choose careers that “are women oriented” according to the society like teaching, dancing, freelancing etc, the society takes away their “tag of masculinity” because they are not earning enough. An interesting study also found out that whenever a country is faced with an economic turmoil, the number of deaths by suicide rises substantially in men because they lose jobs, but more importantly, their status as breadwinners and conquerors. A severe consequence of this patriarchal structure can be seen in the statistics of the effects of women earning more than their counterparts. When researchers were monitoring a control group for unhealthy behaviours, such as smoking or drinking, they found that men who earned less than their wives for an extended period of time experienced poorer health outcomes, shorter life expectancy and increased chances of cardiovascular problems like diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension and stroke. Because of the observable increase in men’s anxieties in these familial arrangements, researchers believe that these men lose the only sense of connection to their identity as breadwinners. Violating the code of idealized masculinity can be such a point of stress for men that it strains their overall health. (Trigger Warning) There is no logical way to deny that we live in a society that perpetuates rape and rape culture. Our society has been historically set up in a way that makes rape, sexual violence, or romantic manipulation not only possible, but rather a normal, expected occurrence for many people. However, the hyper masculinity has internalised the idea that men cannot be raped, harassed, or subjected to violence. Boys often end up ignoring the possibility of sexual assaults and when it happens, they find it hard to believe. On this subject, research data produces a very grotesque picture. A report by Ministry of Women and Child Development, and research paper by Mannat Singh reveals that among the participants of the study on CSA, about 54.4% of boys and 45.6% of girls were victims of sexual assault, about 40% were 5–12 years of age. From the reports, it is patent that boys are also highly vulnerable to abuse in patriarchal setup. But patriarchal mindset does not care about their safety, fills their psyche with confidence that “men cannot be abused” or if they do, they need to keep it a secret. This patriarchal set up makes sure that men’s mental health is not given much importance to. Phrases like “do not waste your hard-earned money on a therapist” are common. According to research by Norwegian sociologist and men’s studies expert Oystein Gullvag Holter, there is a direct correlation between the state of gender equality in a country and male well-being, as measured by factors such as welfare, mental health, fertility and suicide. Men (and women) in more gender-equal countries in Europe are less likely to get divorced, be depressed or die as a result ofviolence. In an article by The British Psychological Society it is explained that, “the construction of masculinities is believed to be one of the most important factors influencing the way in which suicide is discussed, contemplated and enacted by men.” Even though a woman is thrice as likely to commit suicide, the number of deaths by suicide is twice in men than that of a woman because of using more violent means.A research also found out that men who do not see themselves as masculine overcompensate and are more likely to act aggressively towards other genders. The three most common causes of death in men were elucidated as follows- exposure to physical hazards (because why not? a man is supposed to overcome these), taking more risks (again a sign of an alpha man) and not visiting a doctor hence unable to identify diseases (well, men are not encouraged to go to the doctors for smallest of health hazards, are they?). We can call these the “man-made diseases” or more aptly, the “patriarchal made diseases”, which we need to do away with it.This as a vicious cycle where stereotypes are forced upon them and breaking this stereotype makes them preys of the same stereotype where they are expected to have courage and compete to win. The world should take inspiration from Iceland. The World Economic Forum had ranked it No. 1 in gender equality for an entire decade. In fact, Icelandic men enjoy the highest life expectancy in Europe. They live almost as long as women do. It is because how great it is for men, too. Iceland offers a model that could be widely adopted elsewhere in the world. It helps to show that changing men’s ideas about what it means to be a man, and lifting up women in the process, doesn’t make men worse off — In fact, it has far-reaching benefits to their lives. It is evident that the patriarchal structure has far reaching harmful consequences for men too. As it unfolds, men themselves get affected in several ways. This is exactly why men should be feminists too- Feminism as a movement aims to break down the patriarchal structure and offers equal opportunity to men and women in all aspects of life. When women do well, men will too. Feminism as a movement too cannot succeed until it sheds light to the real issues men deal with. It is high time now that we unlearn years of conditioning, stereotyping and learn empathy. We have to liberate our souls from the concept of genders (he/she) to the concept of humanity (you and me). Our upcoming generation should make sure that being an “alpha-male” or being “hyper masculine” is not something to aspire to, what everyone needs to aspire to is to look beyond gender and identify people as emotional, vulnerable and caring creatures capable of bringing about a change in the society. REFERENCES AND FURTHUR READING https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/why-the-patriarchy-is-killing-men/2019/09/12/2490fa7e-d3ea-11e9-86ac-0f250cc91758_story.html https://feminisminindia.com/2019/02/20/patriarchy-harmful-men-boys/ https://medium.com/v-a-l-l-e-y/how-patriarchy-negatively-impacts-men-1d04d348f6a5#:~:text=Patriarchal%20society%20perpetuates%20toxic%20masculinity,negative%20parenting%20techniques%20and%20expectations. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311357/#ref9

Whenever we think about a fashionista, we think of a person with the most exclusive sense of style breezing ahead of us on a walkway looking like a page out of Vogue. The fluorescent lights of the thrift shop garishly illuminate dozens of racks of clothing and people milling between each, Victoria’s Secret fashion shows, Paris couture, Instagram models and all other fabulous, glittery images come up hearing this fanciful word. But have you ever thought of economics while thinking about fashion? I am sure it feels like the relation between these concepts is like Tom and Jerry but if you delve deeper, you will get to know how it is actually a Joey-Chandler relationship. According to us, fashion is a form of self-expression and self-identity not following any patterns, rules, concepts, or principles like the study of economics. All of us know the economics of production, distribution and consumption of clothing but have you ever wondered why you continue to wear that same old piece of uncomfortable clothing not much to your liking anyway? Or why you go crazy when you hear there is a sale of your favourite brand? Or why do people have a thing for DIY Fashion? Or why you prefer wearing the latest and the most expensive attire you purchased to the party? Or why people have a sudden urge to copy the style of Alia or Varun just after watching their movie? Or why most of us first visit fast fashion brands like Zara, Forever 21 or H&M while visiting a shopping mall? Or why do people place more importance to the “out of stock” clothing? Or why do people pay unreasonably high prices for luxury brands? Or why is there always a new trend in the next issue of Cosmopolitan? You will be surprised to know that the answers to these questions can be derived from economics and much delighted to know that you have been applying economic principles while behaving in this manner. Haven’t we all had days when we continue to wear the same old piece of itchy clothing even though they are not much to our liking? These clothes range from loose sweatpants to baggy sweatshirts, but have you ever wondered why do we behave in this manner? Why do we stick to the same uncomfortable piece of clothing even when we have the option not to? The answer to this question is given by Richard Thaler in his book – Richard Thaler’s “Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioural Economics”; where he explains the sunk cost fallacy. Sunk cost fallacy is the phenomenon where a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial. We can clearly apply this concept as to how we keep on wearing that discomfited piece of attire instead of throwing it away or donating it to someone because of the fact that we have already invested in it and hence have to make use of it. Now, for the timing let us consider the story of one of my fashionista friends. She is greeted by the youthful, ultra-feminine fragrance of the Chanel perfume which she cannot resist making her enter the store. Although she had no intentions of purchasing any product, seeing the Chanel Bag at 50 percent off makes her heart skip a beat and the bag earns all the way into her closet while she wheels out of the store satisfied, somehow thinking she has gamed the fashion industry. Haven’t we all had a similar experience where we got so tempted by the word “SALE” that we actually ended up purchasing stuff we didn’t really need and now that we look into that, all of us have such a pile of clothing stacked in the rusty ends of the cupboard. Surprising, the answer to this peculiar question is again provided by Richard Thaler in his book – Richard Thaler’s “Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioural Economics”. It is because of a phenomenon called Transaction Utility. He explains transaction utility as the satisfaction gained from the difference between the selling price and the reference price of a product (distinct from consumer surplus, which is the difference between the price of a product and what one is willing to pay). When presented with the opportunity, she bought it because she was happy that the new selling price was low, even though she might not have loved the bag at the first glance. All of us have a soft corner for handmade products and DIY (Do It Yourself) Fashion, don’t we? While flipping through clothes, we try to assess each piece for what it can become. A men’s XXL sweater can become a dress for a woman, after she cuts the sleeves, hems the edges, and adds a belt. A long floral skirt can become a halter dress with a discrete clothespin at the neck. A pair of jeans can become shorts with a lace trim, taken from an old skirt. Suppose, to enhance your boring white sneakers, you did a creative DIY shoe makeover where you got all crafty with your sneakers by adding paint, delicately putting patches all over it and finally adding some texture and pattern. Now, which shoe would you wear more often and would remain much closer to your heart? Of course, the one you crafted on your own. But have you ever wondered why? All of us do experience this but could hardly believe that the answer lies in one of the phenomenons of behavioural economics, the classic IKEA Effect (named after the Swedish manufacturer and retailer IKEA). The IKEA effect is a cognitive bias in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created. These instances of creative liberty factor into our pride in the finished product, no matter how haphazard. It can cause us to ignore the defects of their creation and hence you may see your piece of art as rivals to Louis Vuitton or Giorgio Armani. Now, suppose you have to go to a family function and have to put forward the best look possible. You have two suits- the one you purchased just a month ago and wore it once and the one that was purchased a year ago and has been worn by you multiple times. In general circumstances, you will go for the new suit. But have you ever thought why do you behave in such a manner? Why do you place more importance to the newly purchased suit than the old one? The economist will be able to give you this answer. It is because of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility by Adam Smith which tells “The additional benefit a person derives from a given increase in his stock of a thing diminishes with every increase in the stock that he already has”, essentially meaning that we derive higher utility from goods we have consumed lesser as compared to the goods consumed in larger quantities. How many of us Bollywood buffs are guilty of saying “Kareena wala lehenga dikhana” or “Hrithik wale sunglasses dikhana”? I am sure many of us are. Which Friends fan has not recreated Rachel Green’s outfit and which How I Met Your Mother fan has not recreated Barney Stinson’s style of dressing? Indeed, very few. As soon as our friend purchases an expensive dress or a suit, don’t we have a sudden desire too to buy that particular attire? But have you ever wondered why it happens? Economists can give this answer to all the fashionistas. It is because of a phenomenon called demonstration effect which refers to the tendency of a person to emulate the consumption style of others. Have you ever wondered why Zara and H&M have become household names? It is because of the demonstration effect only. Fast fashion brands replicate the styles and clothing offered by hind end brands within an affordable budget (because of their low production costs) and hence are able to attract customers. Indeed, fast fashion brands are growing at a high speed. The global Fast Fashion market size is projected to reach USD 244850 million by 2026, from USD 203300 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 3.1% during 2021-2026.(1)We tend to emulate the high-end luxury brand styles and fashion trends in general and that is exactly what is offered in these stores much to our affinity. Now, suppose you are shopping on Amazon. Have you ever wondered why you always go repeatedly to the online shopping website to check the availability of the “out of stock” piece of attire instead of putting much value and surfing through the items always available? Economists approach this behaviour towards fashion in terms of the model of supply and demand. Items in limited supply have high value, whereas our desire decreases for readily available products which is exactly the case here. For the timing, let us consider this hypothetical situation. Two high school students Raj and Simran are out on a date. Simran wears a very expensive silk dress that costs almost the entire salary she earns from working in a restaurant (that is her part-time job), with her hair in a spiral curl and her acrylic nails painted with French tips. Raj wore an oversized designer sports coat which also cost him a fortune. But have you ever wondered whether being fashionable needs to be so expensive and bothersome? Why did Raj and Simran spent so much? According to Thorstein Veblen, an economist who wrote “The Theory of the Leisure Class” over a century ago, the answer is yes. Veblen argues that the main point of being fashionable is to gain status by appearing rich and powerful. One way to display wealth and power is through "conspicuous consumption"—extravagant purchases of clothes and other status symbols. Economists in general also analysed money and the time spent behind fashion. When lumped together with luxury, fashion becomes a form of conspicuous consumption, described very accurately by Veblen. In his accurate words, “The quasi-peaceable gentleman of leisure, then, not only consumes of the staff of life beyond the minimum required for subsistence and physical efficiency, but his consumption also undergoes a specialisation as regards the quality of the goods consumed. He consumes freely and of the best, in food, drink, narcotics, shelter, services, ornaments, apparel, weapons and accoutrements, amusements, amulets, and idols or divinities.”(2) On the basis of this effect, an entire industry of luxury fashion has been sustained. It is such a large and growing industry that the global luxury goods market is expected to increase from US$285.1 billion in 2020 to US$388 billion in 2025.(3)From 500-pound Balenciaga logo t shirts to 800-pound Christian Dior sneakers, a question that often comes up in our mind is why do these brands have such absurdly high prices and why do people still endorse and spend money on it. It is because of the Veblen effect only; these brands have become a “status symbol”, a source of display of wealth and richness. Upper class and the affluent like buying from luxury brands simply because it is highly priced. For an instance, back in 2013, Burberry even announced that they would raise the prices to increase its appeal to the upper end of its consumer base in addition to attracting new wealthier customers. That is also why high-end brands are reluctant of offering discounts in the fear of diluting the exclusivity and power of the brand. Some brands go as far as burning stocks to prevent excess goods being sold at knockdown prices. In 2018, Burberry hit deadlines for destroying unsold clothes, accessories, and perfume worth 28.6 million pounds to protect its brand.(4) Change is the only constant in the fashion industry. Cities of developed nations are littered with abandoned factories, empty retail stores, defunct design houses, and wreckage of supporting industries. Once-famous department stores are now history; harem pants, three quarter pants and other gone away fashion trends is something we only see while watching 90’s Bollywood. Buy why is it so? Why do Fast fashion brands put out new collections every week or month to make it seem like your wardrobe is all off trend? It can again be traced to one of the most established laws of economics- the law of Diminishing Returns which states that too much of a good leads to a negative return eventually. The fast fashion brands through fashion shows and promotions through high end celebrities put a particular style so much in trend that in the beginning people go haywire and crazy about it, it is seen everywhere, but constantly pushing it after a certain point of time leads to people dismissing the trend. Also, there are instances in fashion which can be similar to the instances in economics. Whenever we go to a party, don’t we always have the desire to find the perfect outfit, an attire that shows we have neither put too much effort nor too little? The impulse to find a balance between simplicity and complexity is known as Goldilocks principle and we have a similar theory in economics called Goldilocks economy, which describes the ideal state for an economy whereby the economy is neither expanding or contracting too much. As Coco Chanel rightly said, “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only”. If we extend our horizon of thinking, we will understand how an economist has been an immensely helpful teacher to a fashionista all along. You believed that you were taking decisions and behaving in a certain manner because of your rational thinking and conventions but subconsciously you were always applying the concepts and principles of economics while taking these decisions. So weren’t you an economist all along? REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING 1. https://www.wfmj.com/story/42616645/global-fast-fashion-market-report-history-and-forecast-2020-2026-top-key-regions-types-and-application-competitive-status 2. https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/95261.Thorstein_Veblen 3. https://www.statista.com/study/61582/in-depth-luxury/#:~:text=Statista%20Consumer%20Market%20Outlook,US%24388%20billion%20in%202025. 4. https://youtu.be/9fcHkjt39EA

The population in cities is increasing rapidly. More than half of us live in cities as of now and by 2050 that number will jump to nearly seventy per cent. With the ongoing climate crisis, one of the primary objectives is to achieve sustainability. But there is one city that is doing better than any other place on Earth- Copenhagen, Denmark. This city aims to become the first carbon neutral city by 2025. It's not surprising to learn that two-thirds of the world’s carbon emissions come from cities. And the number is getting worse as more people move into cities and have a higher demand for resources and infrastructure. Copenhagen’s target is to cancel out all of their carbon emissions. Frank Jensen, the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, states that their plan focuses on mobility, pollution and energy. A lot of new infrastructure and solutions have been introduced to achieve this mission. Their bicycle infrastructure is famous all around the world because sixty-two per cent of the Copenhagener’s use their bike for daily transportation today. In the last 10 years, the city has invested nearly 300 million dollars to improve biking infrastructure and all that money has paid off. There are more than five times the amount of bikes than cars in the city.[1] This has helped the city in becoming more sustainable. But the effort doesn’t stop there. Copenhagen has transformed its waterways as well. Only a few decades ago, the harbour was contaminated with industrial waste, oil spills, and even dead fish. Back in 1987, the harbour was so polluted that one could not even dream of swimming in the harbour but now they can. It also has a harbour bath to promote this activity. For cities, space is a luxury. It is an even bigger challenge for coastal cities like New York, Tokyo and Shanghai. Cities like these are running out of land to expand upon. However, in Copenhagen, Denmark, the city designers are getting creative by using the water to their advantage. It is not just about figuring out where people are going to live and work, incorporating green space is also important. They have created the first ever floating park, and there are plans to build dozens more across the city. Like the floating park, Copenhagen is turning other challenges into solutions as well. Rasmus Romeling, the CEO of Urban Riggers, said , “Real estate is getting more and more expensive and you get more and more people that want to live in the city. So you have to be a little creative. And one way to solve that problem could be to utilise the water.” Urban Rigger is a new way of living. Being one of the most sustainable student housing in the world , it is an apartment building floating in the middle of Copenhagen’s harbour. The apartments are made from old shipping containers with the building being completely carbon neutral since it uses low energy pumps and solar panels. Urban Rigger has been a success in creating more liveable space. They have built 5 more riggers in the past year which makes up a total of 72 apartments on the water. Now, they plan to build floating hotels, food markets and senior citizens’ homes. But coastal cities like Copenhagen face an additional concern on how they should scale sustainably. Time is running out for Copenhagen and 500 other cities around the world. In the next 30 years, sea levels in these areas are projected to rise by at least one and a half feet. This may not sound like a lot but it is putting 800 million people in the danger zone. The answer to this solution might be projects like Holmene, which is rather utopian. Holmene is Copenhagen’s newest neighbourhood that will consist of nine man made islands off its coast. Although Copenhagen is a relatively small city, its population is expanding rapidly. Their approach is that when they develop these areas, they make sure that those areas are liveable and they also give something back to the city. The first three islands will be constructed over the next decade and the project will be completed by 2040. The team is getting creative with the design by actually not planning out what will be on some of these islands. Instead of just making one huge area for production, they have decided to slice it up into several islets, start up with three or four islets and then before making the next ones they can adopt the design in order of the demand. Man-made islands are not new. Off the coast of Dubai, there are islands shaped like palm trees. Tokyo built one for Disneyland, the US for homes in Miami. The list goes on. But in Copenhagen, how they are going to do it solves a third problem for the city: that of the leftover dirt from construction.The idea here is that they work with nature and hence don’t need to maintain it. It is also about leveraging the potential that Copenhagen as a city by the water has. They have started it in Copenhagen but are thinking of making it a global project. They already have a lot of requests from London, US, Hong Kong, Singapore and all over the world. For many people, waste is a black box. We have our garbage can, we go out in the morning, we throw something out there. We don’t really know what is happening. We are not so good at looking at trash as a valuable resource. However, it has always been a resource. Now, imagine a city where there is no waste problem, there is virtually no landfill, no dump, no overflowing trash cans. It is a reality for one city in Denmark that is, again, Copenhagen. In Copenhagen they have figured out an innovative solution to waste management. They are turning piles of trash into a ski slope! And to get it there, they are using a sensor. To solve the trash problem, it first has to be collected. For cities all over the world, trash just piles up on the street. But in Copenhagen that is not the case. It is because of the Nordsense sensor, which is about the same size as a pack of cigarettes. The sensor is typically installed in the lid of a bin and it measures the distance and the volume of the content. So the people controlling it have sort of a depth map of what the content looks like. Then they use that 3D image to determine how full each trash can is around the city. From there, they use a data platform to optimise the collection rounds to only pick up bins that are full. The answer is not no more bins. The answer is better placed and better sized bins.. It is a simple solution that started in Copenhagen but it is catching on in the rest of the world, like other parts of Europe, Israel and San Francisco. Nordsense has helped cities cut their waste collections by 50 per cent. [2]Additionally, the sidewalks stay cleaner and there are fewer trucks on the road. But the challenge does not end here because the problem of garbage disposal still exists. What they do is use the residual waste as fuel on par with coal or oil or whatever otherwise would burn. So they take the waste that is not recycled from the city and burn it. Hence, they attain electricity and central heating. Copenhagen's trash goes to the Copenhagen power plant. 300 truck loads of waste arrive everyday at this plant located at a distance of 10 minutes from downtown. They burn that trash to create high pressure steam which drives the turbines to create heat and electricity. The plant is so successful that they even import trash from other countries to keep up with energy production. In fact, they burn 400,000 tons of garbage per year. And while that has a carbon footprint, instead of sending trash to landfills, it is transformed into electricity for 60,000 homes and heat for 100,000 more. The Copenhagen power plant is one of the world’s cleanest waste incineration plants. Normally this kind of plant would be far away from the city centre and people would not be welcomed there because of too much pressure and heat. But in Copenhagen, they have broken new ground, and developed new standards to make it possible that the waste to energy plant can be in the centre of a capital city. It is so safe that they turned the roof of this power plant into a massive public space. It was an extremely difficult task to create an artificial ski slope and a green roof park on an uneven slope. It is now Copenhagen’s only ski slope and it can be used year round no matter the weather. There is also a rooftop café, a climbing wall, and hiking trails. The climbing wall is so tall that they can do multi pitch climbing for the first time. Being an interesting activity, it has gained a lot of attention and popularity. They have media from all over the world and a whole skiing community is waiting eagerly to visit there. People visiting there get the fantastic opportunity to learn about what is going on the other side of the garbage can. At the same time, they are sure to enjoy this marvellous roof park. Patrik Gustavsson, the Foundation Director said, “We need to find ways of living and working that does not destroy the planet we have, It is very nice to hear people wanting to colonise Mars and build space stations on the moon but I think we should start with taking care of what we have here.” Though Copenhagen has made huge strides with their mobility and pollution efforts,their biggest focus is on energy use. It makes up about 80 per cent of their carbon neutral plan. To cut down on their consumption, Copenhagen uses one of the world’s largest and most successful district heating systems. It works by using a network of pipes to capture leftover heat from electricity production, then delivers the heat to homes across the city. Ninety-nine per cent of all households in Copenhagen are linked to their very efficient district heating system. They have also introduced district cooling so that the temperature of the buildings can be reduced. In factories, they can reduce electricity use by cooling down buildings by 70 per cent. To come up with these kinds of sustainable solutions, Copenhagen collaborates with partners across the city like Copenhagen Solutions Lab- an incubator for smart city initiatives. It solves some of the bigger problems of the world by using technology in order to accelerate the transition to a carbon free economy. Getting rid of their waste, measuring air quality and managing traffic are some of the problems they are focusing on. Contrary to how it sounds, the Street Lab is not really a laboratory. It is a two-kilometre-long chunk of downtown Copenhagen that serves as a testing area. Placing a lab in a real urban environment like the downtown makes it very realistic. Everything they test there will be able to survive in other parts of the city. It has a new generation of technology that makes it possible to measure air quality by a sensor. Now, they are looking into mounting sensors on a Google Street View car to make it possible to measure pollutants in each and every street of Copenhagen. The technology has already proved so useful that the Copenhagen Solutions Lab, led by Marius and his team, is already shipping sensors to countries like Norway, Mexico, Austria, Greece and the US. The real reason for Copenhagen’s incredible success is its residents. The citizens demand a high quality urban life. They are willing to do a lot themselves. They want to sort their own garbage, they want to bike to work. Citizen’s involvement is key to the way in which the government thinks in Denmark and other Nordic countries. It is a huge driving force behind making Copahagen a carbon neutral city by 2025. Since 2010, the growth rate in the number of citizens has been 20 per cent and even with that, the city has managed to cut down its emissions by 42 per cent in the same period. Copenhagen has shown the world that we can have growth along with green transformations by making the right investments in the city. Copenhagen’s transformation, however, has not been easy. Their size and wealth helps them but they have managed to bring in creativity and innovation.Regardless, if it hits the carbon neutral deadline, Copenhagen’s ultimate goal to serve as an example for cities everywhere is sure to be achieved! REFERENCES and FURTHER READING https://pulchra-schools.eu/2021/02/08/more-than-just-a-concrete-jungle-cities-as-urban-ecosystems/ https://nordsense.com/?utm_term=per cent2Bnordsense&utm_campaign=Allper cent20-per cent20Nordsenseper cent20-per cent20Brand&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=6400023074&hsa_cam=1604356267&hsa_grp=62464794844&hsa_ad=305336300818&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-548264703494&hsa_kw=per cent2Bnordsense&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQiAj9iBBhCJARIsAE9qRtC9od74SkQRLfalmB7UJOT5lQFFV-_fYK_YOrWN5m_Ip0y3_9gTRhcaAgUXEALw_wcB

CASE STUDY INTO JAPAN'S WORK CULTURE Japan is often seen as the pinnacle of success and forms an inspiring story from rags to riches- how it transformed its crumbling economy after World War II to become a first world nation and one of the largest economies in the world, popularly known as the Japanese Economic Miracle. Japanese always come off as well cultured individuals who always show up on time with a smile on their face, living a long and healthy life after deciphering the secret to success in life- famously known as IKIGAI. Japanese are the most hardworking people on this planet who have been primarily responsible for their economic boom but underlying this fancy story lies the actual hardships and working conditions of people- the most hardworking people on this planet are definitely not the happiest. Shockingly, the country has the 2th highest suicide rate among the G7 nations which makes it a major social issue (1). A more shocking news is that death from overwork is such a common phenomenon here that the Japanese have curated a term for it- Karoshi, the most common medical causes ranging from heart attack to stroke, stress, and starvation diet. Although the government recognises the fact that over 200 employees are a victim to this cause, many feel that this number is highly deflated. The actual statistics may become too much to bear for a Japanese. According to a study, 22.7 percent of companies surveyed had employees that worked more than 80 hours of overtime each month – the official threshold after which there is a chance of karoshi (2). Indeed, as many as one in five workers in Japan are currently at risk. Apart from that, depression and crumbling mental and physical health is also common among the Japanese employees. In 2018, there were over 2000 reports of work-related suicides (3). These numbers made us question the very existence of such a disturbing work environment and the real opportunity cost of their hard work, that is the heinous price Japanese have paid to become the so-called “hard workers”. One of the major reasons lies within the work culture of Japan itself, Japanese work for the longest hours with an average Japanese working over 49 hours in one week (4). It is a common for children to not see their fathers for over 2 days since he has been to work. The society puts this pressure on males where they can prove their love towards their family not by spending more time with them but by spending more time at the office working more to earn more. There is a common phrase where it is told- “Best husbands are the one who are healthy and not around too much.” This work culture has gone forward to develop the concept of Salaryman- basically, a white-collar worker who is expected to show undue devotion towards the company by working towards that same company throughout his/her life and holding the company’s well being over his/her personal wellbeing. They are expected not only to grind their heads throughout the day towards the profits of the company but also to engage in “After work drinks sessions”, where after completing their tenure for the day, they go out for drinks with their colleagues to increase team bonding. The concept of collectivity is so strong among Japanese that they a survey reviewed that they felt guilty for taking a paid leave- because their peers were working and they were not, which is looked down upon in the society (5). Amongst all this trauma, the working women are expected to perform household work as well which conveys the high levels of gender inequality in Japan. Its Gender Inequality Index was 19th on 2019, which is relatively low for developed nations (6). While women hold 45.4 percent of Japan's bachelor’s degree, they only make up 18.2 percent of the labour force, and only 2.1 percent of employers are women (7). The government essentially has to take a lot of steps to remove this disparity. The process of opting into this toxic work culture is dreadful in itself- Shukatsu, the job-hunting process and a nightmare for students who are exposed to it so early that 1 out of every 5 contemplate suicide, unable to bear this system (8). On an average, once a Japanese is recruited into the company, they are expected to stay there for a minimum of 10 years which makes this choice for students all the more difficult. Even though 80% of the students are successful in finding jobs in their home country, they are exposed to a rigorous process of going through multiple group discussion rounds and interviews, a process that spreads over a year. With such expectations from students, Shukatsu has become a billion-dollar industry to groom the students to compete for the jobs they apply for. This causes the youth to be left in bewilderment. Young people think they have no other choice if they manage to grab a job, they will have to give unreasonable amounts of time and if they are unable to land a job, they won’t survive. Another of the many toxicities of this work culture is the Black Companies- burakku kigyo, which are corporations with extreme exploitative working conditions like no insurance benefits, only one 10-minute break throughout the day etc (9). These companies conduct training sessions which soon becomes hazing sessions and they do not regret the same. One appalling fact regarding black companies is that it is not only legal in Japan, the Japanese have gone forward to award the “Most Evil Corporation of the Year”, with Toyota being one of the 2019 winners (10). The major reasons these companies are still allowed to exist is because they are based on the age-old Japanese concept of Bushido- a moral code concerning Samurai attitudes which talks about the theory to “sacrifice everything” for the cause of life, here being the faithfulness towards the company. Amongst such a culture, we would be thinking that self employed people working on their own norms would be a majority. However, the statistics show a completely opposite result. Approximately only 10% of the work force of Japan is self-employed (11). The understood cause behind it is that self-employment is essentially a trade off between stable income levels and mental health. It is only a rare sect of Japanese who break off the traditional shields and value their mental well being more than stable income levels to have the courage to be self-employed. A thought pondering most of us by now is why Japanese still are part of such a work culture. Here are a few reasons behind it. Firstly, Japan is the third largest economy in the world by nominal GDP, 4th largest by the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) and the world’s 2nd largest developed economy (12)(13). To maintain this economy, it requires constant perseverance and dedication from the Japanese. But more importantly, the population of Japan is steadily declining with a major sect of their population ageing and decline in birth rates (fathers not spending time with their children has upset the mothers). With Japan going through a construction boom and organising events like the Tokyo Olympics which requires a huge labour force, the Japanese are forced to work more. Even though Japan has dearth of physical labourers, it has never been welcoming to immigrants and is looking for other options like robotics to neutralise the demand and supply, which is a shocking paradox because even though there is a job shortage, Japanese have not been able to improve their working conditions. Interestingly enough Japan has been one of the world leaders in robotics. Surprisingly, even though Japanese are the most hardworking people they sure are not the most productive ones. In fact, Japanese are the lowest in productivity among all the G7 nations (14). In the early 1990s, the nation lost its status as an economic juggernaut and found itself a beleaguered nation in its worst recession since World War II. The bubble burst and the economic growth has been declining steadily (15). Many Japanese have complained of unnecessary lengthy meetings, over seriousness at work and lack of attention to mental and physical health as the causes of lower productivity which essentially forces them to work overtime in order to get tasks done, trapping them in a vicious cycle. The government must essentially promote the concept of productivity and put a stop to the hellish conditions the Japanese work force are exposed to (16). Among the most high profile which forced the government to mend it’s ways is the story of Matsuri Takahashi, whose monthly 100 hours of overtime for advertising giant Dentsu pushed her to commit suicide at the age of 24 (17). Another fatality that sparked outrage was that of 31-year-old Miwa Sado, who experienced heart failure following a month in which she logged a shocking 159 hours of overtime with public broadcaster NHK (18). Soon after Takahashi’s death, the government introduced Premium Friday, an initiative that gives employees the chance to leave at 3pm on the last Friday of every month. However, this measure did not prove to be very effective as the Japanese had to work longer other days to compensate for it. The government, meanwhile, continues to plaster posters and hold events to raise awareness, but many see these actions as insufficient since it is unable to bring about any tangible change. Although the government put a cap of 80-hour work, it has allowed companied to extend it to 100 hours during “the bust periods.” However, according to The Japan Times, the largely symbolic gesture has had little impact (19). Private innovative Japanese companies have established their own handbook. There are those, such as Dentsu, that now turn the lights off at 10pm. The advertising firm also offers breakfast to those that come in early, in another bid to deter individuals from staying too late (20). Lack of sleep among salarymen is also quite apparent. Nescafe has suggested a way to mitigate this by inventing what they the ‘coffee nap’ cell. A coffee nap is a quick doze preceded by a cup of Nescafe coffee (21). Another company, Crazy Inc, awards points to employees who sleep at least 6 hours a night, at least 5 days per week, according to Bloomberg. The points have a value of up to 64,000 yen. A specialized mattress has been made that tracks the number of hours of sleep and is connected to an app (22). Some companies have come up with afternoon exercise breaks and unique allowances like the grooming allowance and games allowance to motivate workers. Others have sent their employees to unique therapy sessions like that of Ruikatsu (literally, tear activity) encouraging people to cry as a way to release stress and ultimately be happy (23). Japan still has a long way to go to acknowledge individuals as human beings in the society rather than just a collective for their economic progress. The opportunity cost of taking away their mental and physical wellbeing is too inhumane a cost to even think of. The government has to come forward with a fool proof plan to legalise stable working. However, “Changing the rules are not same as changing the culture” and the Japanese need outside help, our help. We essentially need to pressurise the government to amend its ways to make Japanese one of the happiest, hardworking individuals. REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS 1. https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/age-standardized-suicide-rates-(per-100-000-population)?bookmarkId=bb75d0be-cd45-4d40-8474-d5ade4e72258 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y-YJEtxHeo (CNBC REVIEW) 3. https://www.statista.com/statistics/622325/japan-work-related-suicides/ 4. https://japanyugen.com/work-hours-in-japan-the-dedicated-working-culture-in-japanese-society/ 5. https://medium.com/@jami3jam/the-japanese-salaryman-452692b485e5 6. http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/68606 7. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/the-pursuit-of-gender-equality_9789264281318-en 8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ajH2Id5FY4 (DOCUMENTARY ON JAPANESE WORK CULTURE) 9. https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-black-companies/ 10. https://kimi.wiki/jobsearch/black-companies-japan 11. https://tradingeconomics.com/japan/self-employed-total-percent-of-total-employed-wb-data.html#:~:text=Self%2Demployed%2C%20total%20(%25%20of,compiled%20from%20officially%20recognized%20sources. 12. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/SPROLLs/world-economic-outlook-databases#sort=%40imfdate%20descending 13. https://web.archive.org/web/20130304192606/http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/country-statistical-profile-japan_20752288-table-jpn 14. https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00619/japan%E2%80%99s-labor-productivity-lowest-in-g7.html#:~:text=Based%20on%20OECD%20data%2C%20the,level%20in 15. https://www.statista.com/statistics/263607/gross-domestic-product-gdp-growth-rate-in-japan/ 16. https://hbr.org/1998/01/reinterpreting-the-japanese-economic-miracle 17. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/05/japanese-woman-dies-overwork-159-hours-overtime 18. https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-nhk-journalist-miwa-sado-died-after-working-159-hours-overtime-2017-10?IR=T 19. https://www.europeanceo.com/business-and-management/japanese-government-must-do-more-to-curb-karoshi-phenomenon/ 20. https://japantoday.com/category/national/suicide-of-overworked-dentsu-employee-prompts-company-to-order-lights-out-at-10-p-m 21. https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/restaurants/nescafe-sleep-cafe 22. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2019/06/28/it-pays-to-get-your-zss-why-companies-are-paying-employees-to-sleep/?sh=724f7c60f29e https://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2021/jan/10/there-is-nothing-like-a-good-cry-or-tear-seeking-therapy-2247002.html