Topic 4: Luxury goods and services are not necessary
For
- Decrease in Efficiency:
 The consumption of luxuries
sometimes causes a decline in the
efficiency and ability to work. The
use of opium and liquor decreases
the efficiency to work of a person.
- Wastage of Resources:
 Our resources are limited. These
scarce resources are wasted in the
production of luxury goods. It
creates a further shortage of the
resources to produce necessities.
From the social point of view, the
resources used in the production of
luxuries are simply a waste.
- Sacrifice of Necessaries:
 One of the evils of luxuries is that
people are attracted towards them.
They make use of luxuries at the
cost of necessaries which result in
certain disadvantages.
- Harmful to Health:
 The consumption of certain
luxuries is harmful for health. For
example, one of the causes of
cancer is smoking.
- Spread of Dissatisfaction:
 Only a very small group in society
uses luxuries and the majority of
people restrict their consumption
to bare necessaries of life. As a
result, the feelings of dissatisfaction
and jealousy arise in the mind of
the poor which lead to social
unrest.
- No-maximum Social Advantage
 No maximum social advantage can
be acquired by the production of
luxury goods, because only a
handful number of people will be
benefitted by its production.
- Unequal Distribution of Wealth
 There is great unequal distribution
of wealth because luxury goods are
not made in cottage industries and
there is bad effect on such
industries.
Against
- Income to Government:
 Certain luxuries are a major source
of income to the Government. The
government collects money by
imposing taxes on luxuries like
liquor, cigarettes, cars, etc.
- Increase in Production and National
Income:
 The total production as well as
national income of the country
increases with the increase in the
production of luxuries.
- Increase in Employment:
 Production of luxuries creates
employment for a large number of
people who are unemployed. If the
production of luxuries is stopped
many persons will become jobless
- Useful in Crisis:
 Luxuries are of great help in times
of need and economic crisis. For
example, a businessman can make
use of luxuries in case of financial
emergency. He may sell jewelry,
costly furniture, valuable items, etc.
and by getting money from their
sale, he may overcome his
economic crisis.
- Reduction in Inequality:
 Production of luxuries helps in
reducing the inequalities of wealth
distribution in the society. Artists
are generally from the poor class
who prepare articles of art. Rich
persons are accustomed to
purchase these luxurious goods. In
this way, wealth is transferred from
the rich to the poor workers which
reduce the income and wealth
inequalities in the country.
- Incentives for Hard Work:
 Everybody desires to make use of
luxuries. To satisfy these desires or
wants one has to work hard to
increase his income.
- Sign of High Standard of Living:
 The consumption of more and more
- No Increase in Employment
Opportunities
 Luxury goods are demanded by
small number of people and its
production takes place in factory
where one cannot increase number
of workers without demand and
work is done mostly by machine.
- No Encouragement to Art and Crafts
 At present there is reduction in the
production of artistic goods
because luxury goods are being
produced in factory by machine
which reduces art and crafts
workers.
- Poor Class May Face Misery
 By the production of luxury goods,
producers are getting more profit
therefore production of essential
articles for poor class is going
down. Thus, the price of these
articles is static or sometimes goes
up. No reduction in price as less
production takes place.
 refined, cultured and up-to-date.
 Arguments written in favour and
against the luxury can be studied
carefully and we can come to this
conclusion that both sides have got
some weight and we cannot ignore
the importance completely. But to
conclude it can be said that the use
of luxuries articles are harmful and
waste. Therefore, nothing can be
considered as a luxury or as a
necessary for ever and for every
person. It all depends upon
situation, circumstances and
environment. So there should be
“Necessaries for all before luxuries
for any.”
items of luxuries is a symbol of high
standard of living. The higher the
standard of living is, the more
luxuries they consume.
- Development of Art and Craft:
 The consumption of luxuries helps
in the development of art and craft.
When rich people purchase costly
items of art and paintings, it gives
incentives to the workers. The poor
worker always tries to make an
improvement in his art or craft
because of the high prices available
for new designs.
- It Increases Social Prestige
 Those who use luxury goods their
social status goes high. Such people
will not like the restrictions on the
use of luxury goods when they can
afford to use it.
- Beneficial to Society and End of
Monotony:
 The use of luxuries is beneficial to
society which makes people
Use of different types of luxury
ends the monotony of life.
Topic 3: I should start my own business, not work for someone else
For
1. Pros of owning your own business
- Free at work
 You call the shots, you decide when
you work, how long you work for,
what work you take on and what
work you decline.
- Control Over Your Finances
 Although finances may be a
struggle at first for most small
businesses, if you are successful
then you need to remember that
you will be in control of that money.
If you worked for someone else’s
company, although you may gain
bonuses and commission, you
won’t be the one deciding where
the money goes.
 Entrepreneurship is not the only
way to build real wealth for a
lifetime. Even the best corporate
jobs have a limit on your annual
income, salary, and bonuses.
Owning your own business
removes your salary cap. Plus,
many small businesses become
valuable assets themselves that can
be sold as investments.
- You Can Follow Your Passion And Do
Something Which You Love Every Day
 Even if you land the job role of your
dreams, if it’s for someone else’s
company then there will be a set
job description in place which may
not be filled with everything that
you’re passionate about. For
example, if you love writing and
take on a new writing role, it may
also involve administrative or sales
jobs. If you own your own business,
then you have the option to hire
people to do the jobs which you
don’t want to do.
2. Cons of working for someone else
- Little Control Over Your Job Role
 You have little control over the
finances. For example, if you land a
huge deal for someone else’s
Against
1. Pros of working for someone else
- You can change jobs when you want
 When doing business, it's like being
stuck in one place in all your career
life
- Guaranteed Income
 Employee is paid by the employer
for their services towards their
organization. This pay often
includes a range of allowances and
benefits which may include, taxes,
insurance, health insurance,
provident funds and company
shares.
- Less Responsibility
 n employment, you are often
assigned a particular role and are
only responsible for performing the
tasks that are directly related to
that role whilst you are working.
 => You don’t need to interfere or
worry with how other people are
performing across the company, as
you will still receive your payment
as long as you complete all the
tasks that are expected and
outlined for your individual role.
2. Cons of working for your own
- Entrepreneurship is not for everyone,
especially graduate students with no
experience, little expertise, narrow
network and little savings.
 Start a new business requires a
massive understanding about the
market or the sector that
participate in, and you possibly do
not possess that kind of expertise
because most of thing you have
learned is coming from the
textbooks, from other sources that
you find on the Internet or from
what the teachers have said, so you
clearly do not have the real
experiences in the business world.
- Risk: Failure could cost a fortune. You
could lose all your savings and also lose
your control over your life.
 company, you may not reap as
many benefits as you would if you
ran your own business.
 if you work for someone else’s
company then you would rely on
the overhead to give you
promotions and pay rises, whereas,
when you work for yourself, you
are the boss and decide what you
should be taking home money wise.
 You never know whether you’ll be
promoted or whether you may be
handed a pink slip — these life-
altering decisions are in someone
else’s hands and beyond your
control.
- Bad Commute
 For many people, some of the best
work opportunities are in the city
centre which can often mean
enduring a long and exhausting
commute to and from work.
- Working With Clients Or People You
Don’t Want To Work With
 If you run your own company, then
it’s your choice who you work for
and who you employ. If you work
for someone else’s company, then
you more than likely won’t be
calling the shots on everyone who’s
employed or all the clients which
you take on. However, if you gain a
higher position in a company then
it’s more likely that you will have
more of a say over what clients you
work with and what staff you hire,
plus, there may be opportunities to
work from home even when
working for someone else’s
company.
- You can’t procrastinate
 Even if as an employee you must do
your job not to get fired, there are
times in your work day where you
can take a break to have coffee, or
talk to your colleagues, and still get
paid. Being your own boss means
that no one will threaten you if you
choose to watch TV over work. You
 As you becoming older and older,
your parents certainly reaching
closer to the retirement age, which
means that they start to depend on
you on financial support. And when
something bad happens to you or
your family, for example you have
to deal with medical bills for your
parents, you could lose your
business and all your money
- Required a massive amount of luck
 Even when you have done
everything so perfectly, something
bad could happen. For example, you
start a business and suddenly a
pandemic like covid happens, your
business will be struggling so hard.
- Stress
 With no guaranteed income, no
boss for guidance, no colleagues for
support… Entrepreneurship can
prove a stressful and lonely place.
For all the advantages that it offers,
it has its pitfalls. The stress of being
your own boss, marketing
department, legal department,
networker, and accountant can
prove too much for some people.
- Long Working Hours:
 Some businesses need to work a lot
of hours in order to get off the
ground and be successful. If you are
starting a business that has many
competitors, sometimes man hours
are the only way of building a solid
reputation and customer base.
 => Working long hours can have a
negative impact on your family and
social life and also your health.
- Financial Instability
 When starting a business and for
the first few years, there may not be
much disposable income available.
This can affect your individual
finance rating and lead to trouble
securing mortgages, cars, mobile
telephones and other lifetime
essentials
- Time commitment
 really have to find motivation to get
the work done and reach for your
goals. If you can’t discipline
yourself, being an entrepreneur
may be very difficult for you.
- Unfixed schedule
 If your employer needs you to work
second shift instead of first shift for
3 weeks, you’re kind of stuck and
have to make lifestyle adjustments.
If a co-worker calls off and no one is
available to fill that open shift, you
might be forced to do so.
- Undesirable duties
 When you start up, you’ll
 People often start businesses so
that they’ll have more time to
spend with their families.
Unfortunately, running a business
is extremely time-consuming. In
theory, you have the freedom to
take time off, but in reality, you may
not be able to get away. In fact,
you’ll probably have less free time
than you’d have working for
someone else. For many
entrepreneurs and small business
owners, a forty-hour workweek is a
myth; see Figure 5.6 “The
Entrepreneur’s Workweek”.
Vacations will be difficult to take
and will often be interrupted. In
recent years, the difficulty of
getting away from the job has been
compounded by cell phones,
iPhones, Internet-connected
laptops and iPads, and many small
business owners have come to
regret that they’re always
reachable.
undoubtedly be responsible for
either doing or overseeing just
about everything that needs to be
done. You can get bogged down in
detail work that you don’t enjoy. As
a business owner, you’ll probably
have to perform some unpleasant
tasks, like firing people.
Topic 8: We should invest in life insurance rather than non-life insurance
For
1. Pros of life insuarance
- It helps you plan for retirement
 Not every kind of insurance can
help you plan for retirement.
Thankfully, several insurance
providers have tailor-made
retirement plans that you can
invest in. The earlier you purchase
one of these plans, the more money
you will have to enjoy once you
decide to retire.
- It will help your family pay off debts
 We never know what life has in
store for us. If anything were to
happen to you, your family may
have to deal with a car loan, or a
credit card bill, or other types of
loans. The payout from a life
insurance policy can help your
loved ones repay these debts.
- It isn't too expensive
 The earlier you start your
insurance policy, the more it will
benefit you. As a young individual
who is in great health, your
premiums are likely to be lower,
while the insurance cover will be
higher.
- It can help take care of your business
 If you run your own company, then
you should definitely invest in a
term plan. This short-term cover
option has incredibly low
premiums but offers a generous
pay out in case anything were to
happen to you. The sum will help
your business partner settle all
your accounts.
- It can help you fulfil long-term plans
 Depending on the insurance plan
you choose, you can invest small
amounts that will accumulate over
time to help you purchase your
dream home or start up that
business you've always dreamed
about.
- It provides a financial safety net
Against
1. Reasons not to buy insurance
- No dependents
 Life insurance is designed to
provide for people who would be at
financial risk in the event of your
death. So, one reason that you
might not need life insurance is if
no one depends on you financially
or you do not need to ensure
someone's financial health in the
event of your death. For example,
you may have no children, or you
may have children who are in good
financial health.
- Tight budget
 Another reason you may not want
to buy life insurance is if you don't
have enough cash flow to pay for
the premiums. If your budget is
tight, you will likely want to
prioritize paying for necessities like
housing, clothing, utilities, and food,
before you pay for life insurance.
- Other Financial Plans for Beneficiaries
 you may not need life insurance if
you are planning to provide for
your beneficiaries in other ways.
For example, you may have an
investment account that you
believe can meet their financial
needs in the event of your death.
2. Cons of life insurance
- Life Insurance Can be expensive for
old-aged people
 Buying a life insurance policy
would seem to be the most logical
thing to do when you are young and
why not? The premium for young
buyers is quite affordable. The
premium amount for a life
insurance policy is determined by
your personal medical condition,
family’s medical condition and your
age.
 But if you are over 40 or if you are
nursing an illness or if you have a
history of bad medical condition in
  As an earning member of your
family, your loss will not only hurt
your family emotionally, but also
financially. If you have a good life
cover, your family will have a
financial safety net to help them
through their grief.
- It serves as a saving tool
 You should look at your insurance
policy as your very own piggy bank.
Apart from keeping a part of your
salary safe, many policies will also
allow you to borrow money against
your insurance – which can help at
times when you need to liquidate
assets.
- It offers mental peace
 More than anything, insurance
offers you complete peace of mind.
When you have insurance on your
side, you know that you've done
whatever you can to secure the
financial future of your family.
the family, the insurance company
will consider you as a risky buyer
and so to mitigate the risk they
charge a higher premium. So, if you
are old or carrying a chronic
ailment, a life insurance policy can
be helpful for your loved one, but it
would an added burden on your
expenses.
- The returns on life insurance are not
significant
 Certain life insurance policies like a
whole life insurance policy provide
the dual benefit of investment-cum-
protection. The cash-value
component of the whole life policy
is a great way to save money for
your future needs like retirement
and providing coverage for the
family in the event of your demise.
 However, you must know that the
returns offered on the investment
are much lower than other
investment tools. You can invest
your hard-earned money in a term
insurance plan and invest the
additional cash in other investment
tools and increase your chances of
earning higher returns.
- Insurers may not pay the benefit
 There have been many instances
wherein the insurance companies
have denied paying the sum
assured or the death benefit to the
policyholder or the nominee. A lot
of times, the insurance company
uses various tricks to evade paying
the benefits even after the maturity
of the policy. They would cite many
hidden charges or clauses to reduce
the pay-out. It is, therefore,
important to carefully understand
the finer details of the policy and
choose a company that has a
positive pay-out rate. Further, it
would be best advised to consult
your financial advisor about the
pros and cons of the policy before
entering a contract.
- Complex Insurance policies
  Many insurance policy providers
offer a wide range of life insurance
policies to suit the different needs
of the customers. While the vast
choices give you the liberty to
choose the best, it can also create
confusion in the minds of the policy
buyers, especially the ones who
have no prior experience of buying
an insurance policy.
- Exclusions in life insurance policy
 All the life insurance policies do not
provide comprehensive coverage;
there are bound to be certain
exclusions. For example, your
insurance policy may not cover loss
of life due to drug overdose or
involvement in criminal/illegal
activities. In such cases, depending
on the type of insurance policy you
have purchased and your needs,
you may have to buy an additional
rider to increase the coverage. The
riders will automatically increase
the premium amount.
Topic 10: We should not invest in cryptocurrencies
For
1. Cons
- Scalability
 While the number of digital coins
and adoption is increasing rapidly,
it is still dwarfed by the number of
transactions that payment giant,
VISA, processes each day.
Additionally, the speed of a
transaction is another important
metric that cryptocurrencies
cannot compete with on the same
level as players like VISA and
Mastercard until the infrastructure
delivering these technologies is
massively scaled. Such an evolution
is complex and difficult to do
seamlessly. However, some have
already proposed several solutions,
including lightning networks,
sharding, and staking as options to
overcome the scalability issue.
- Cybersecurity issues
 As a digital technology,
cryptocurrencies will be subject to
cybersecurity breaches, and may
fall into the hands of hackers. We
have already seen evidence of this,
with multiple ICOs getting breached
and costing investors hundreds of
millions of dollars this summer
alone (one of these attacks by itself
resulted in the loss of $473 million).
Mitigating this will require
continuous upkeep of security
infrastructure, but we are already
seeing many players dealing with
this directly, and using enhanced
cybersecurity measures that go
beyond those used in the
traditional banking industries.
- Price volatility and lack of inherent
value
 Price volatility, tied to a lack in
inherent value, is a major problem,
and one of the specifics that Buffet
referred to specifically a few weeks
ago when he characterized the
Against
2. Pros of owning cryptocurrencies
- Easy Transactions
 Crypto transactions can be made
easily, generally at a low cost, and
in a relatively private manner.
Using a smartphone app, hardware
wallet, or exchange wallet, almost
anyone can send and receive a
variety of cryptocurrencies.
- Relatively Secure
 Because cryptocurrencies are
rooted in cryptography and
blockchain security, decentralized
cryptocurrencies tend to make for
secure forms of payment. As such,
the relative security of cryptos may
be one of the biggest benefits for
users.
 Crypto security, in large part, is
determined by hash rate. The
higher the hash rate, the more
computing power is required to
compromise the network. Bitcoin is
considered to be the most secure
cryptocurrency, as it tends to have
a higher hash rate than other
networks.
- Short Settlement Times and Low Fees
 While some people may only want
to invest in cryptocurrency to take
advantage of (prospective) price
appreciation, others might find
benefit in the ability to use crypto
as a medium of exchange.
- Exponential Industry Growth
 The cryptocurrency industry has
been one of the fastest-growing
markets that most of us have seen
in our lifetimes, especially since the
industry got its start with the debut
of Bitcoin back in 2009. The total
market cap of the cryptocurrency
market in 2013 was about $1.6
billion. By September 2022, it’s
worth more than $930 billion. That,
too, is including the so-called
“crypto winter” that the crypto
 cryptocurrency ecosystem as a
bubble. It is an important concern,
but one which can be overcome by
linking the cryptocurrency value
directly to tangible and intangible
assets (as we have seen some new
players do with diamonds or
energy derivatives). Increased
adoption should also increase
consumer confidence and decrease
this volatility.
- Regulations
 Even if we perfect the technology
and get rid of all the problems
listed above, until the technology is
adopted by federal governments
and regulated, there will be
increased risk in investing in this
technology.
 Other concerns with the technology
are mostly logistical in nature. For
example, changing protocols, which
becomes necessary when the tech
is being improved, can take quite a
long time and interrupt the normal
flow of operations.
markets experienced for much of
2022.
 So, while the industry as a whole
has seen incredible growth over the
past decade, it’s important to keep
in mind that markets ebb and flow.
- The Possibility of Outsized Returns
 Bitcoin has been one of the best-
performing assets of the last 13
years. When it debuted in 2009,
Bitcoin essentially had no value, but
in the following years, it would rise
to a fraction of a penny, and then
eventually to tens of thousands of
dollars. This represents millions of
percentage points’ worth of gains.
By comparison, the S&P 500 index
of stocks returns an average of
about 8% per year.
 Some altcoins have outperformed
Bitcoin by wide margins at times,
although many of those later saw
their prices collapse. Gains like
these might be among the most
well-known cryptocurrency
benefits. The losses, on the other
hand, may be among the most well-
known drawbacks. And that’s
important to note, as crypto prices
have fallen quite a bit, as of late. For
example, during 2022, Bitcoin’s
price has fallen by more than 60%
as of September.
 That type of volatility has
characterized prices in the crypto
space, which has been one of the
key benefits of cryptocurrency for
day traders and speculators, too.
Taking advantage of the
fluctuations in price can help
traders earn returns, even if prices
fall.
- More Private Transactions
 Privacy can be a big benefit of
cryptocurrency, but crypto isn’t
always as private as some people
might think. Blockchains create a
public ledger that records all
transactions forever. While this
 ledger only shows wallet addresses,
if an observer can connect a user’s
identity to a specific wallet, then
tracking transactions becomes
possible.
 While it’s worth noting that most
crypto transactions are
pseudonymous, there are ways to
make more anonymous
transactions. Coin mixing services
group transactions together in a
way that makes it hard to pick them
apart from one another, which can
make it difficult to track for outside
observers. Individuals who run a
full node also make their
transactions more opaque because
observers can’t always tell if the
transactions running through the
node were sent by the person
running the node or by someone
else.
 Methods like these are for more
advanced users and could prove
difficult for those new to crypto. So
while absolute privacy is really not
one of the main positives of
cryptocurrency, transactions are
still generally more private than
using fiat currency with third-party
payment processors.
- Portfolio Diversification
 Cryptocurrency has become known
as a non-correlated asset class.
Theoretically, crypto markets
largely function independently of
other markets, and their price
action tends to be determined by
factors other than those affecting
stocks, bonds, and commodities.
Though that theory has been tested
this year, as assets of all types of
slipped, including cryptocurrencies.
It’s worth noting, though, that
during the last few years, cryptos
have begun to sometimes trade in
tandem with stocks for short
periods of time.
- Potential Inflation Hedge
 Mineable cryptocurrencies with a
 limited supply cap, like Bitcoin,
Litecoin, and Monero, to name a
few, were traditionally thought to
be good hedges against inflation.
Because monetary inflation can
occur when central banks and
governments print more money
(increasing the supply), things that
are more scarce tend to appreciate
in value.
 With more and more new dollars
chasing fewer and fewer coins, the
price of these fixed-supply coins as
measured in dollars has a higher
chance of going up. Additionally,
the Bitcoin protocol, for example, is
also designed to keep those coins
scarce regardless of what happens
with monetary policy.
- Cross-Border Payments
 Cryptocurrencies have no regard
for national borders. An individual
in one country can send coins to
someone in a different country
without any added difficulty. With
traditional financial services,
getting funds across international
borders can take a long time and
come with hefty fees. In some cases,
doing so might not even be possible
due to regulations, sanctions, or
tensions between specific
countries.
- A More Inclusive Financial System
 People don’t need permission from
any financial authority or
government to use the crypto
ecosystem. (Though it’s worth
noting that Bitcoin mining is
banned in China, and that there
may be other local rules and
regulations to take not of.)
Participants also don’t necessarily
need to have a bank account. There
are billions of people today who are
“unbanked,” meaning they have no
access to the financial system,
including bank accounts. With
crypto, however, the only thing
those people need is a smartphone,
 and they can essentially become
their own bank.
- Transactional Freedom
 it can be used to exchange value
between two parties. This can be
done independently of any third-
party, making the transaction about
as free as it can get. It’s similar to
handing a dollar bill to a friend on
the street.
 Banks, or other payment
processors, can choose to cut off
services to anyone for any reason.
This can make things difficult for
some journalists, political
dissidents, or other individuals
working in nations with oppressive
government regimes. Because there
is no central authority governing
Bitcoin or most other
cryptocurrencies, it’s very difficult
to stop anyone from using them.
- Adaptability
 Some cryptocurrency projects take
measures to become more efficient
or resource-intensive. That’s a big
difference between, say, the
traditional banking system, which
is often stuck utilizing outdated
technologies and protocols.
- Specialization
 Some cryptos can be designed
specifically for certain projects or
uses. Some cryptos, for instance,
are designed to work with
metaverse projects or games, and
can be used to help create in-game
assets or tokens.