At Wimbledon this July the singles champion took home £3.6mn. The sixty-four players who lost their first match took £80,000 each i.e. the winner earns 45x the losers. That gap is what economists call the ‘Theory of Tournaments’, and two celebrated papers explain why the gap must be that wide. This payoff structure will become familiar […]
Some of us who studied basic sciences struggle to accept economics as a science. Indeed, Paul Samuelson reportedly said, “Economics isn’t a science, it is an argument”. However, it is important to recognise the difference. Whilst physics is about universal laws of nature, economics is context dependent given human behaviours which it is meant to […]
In our recent bestseller, “Breakpoint: The Crisis of the Middle Class & The Future of Work” we said that even as office jobs dwindle, India could see the creation of 100 million gig jobs over the next few years. This piece says that gig job creation has taken off in USA. The Washington Post’s opening […]
Anil Swarup retired from the elite echelons at the apex of the Government of India less than a decade ago. He is well placed therefore to understand what ails India’s education system. In this hard-hitting piece, Mr Swarup points the finger as much at commercial interests (who operate like a crime syndicate) as at the […]
Amazon is credited for scaling online retail like no other pulling off incredibly complicated logistics covering an infinite assortment of goods conveniently delivered to customers’ doorsteps at low cost. Yet, this article argues that Costco, the champion of brick and mortar retail is a better exemplar of logistical efficiency. “Two companies have emerged with ideal-type […]
Last week saw an unusual intervention by the American government in the Japanese currency market to ‘prop’ up what looked like a Yen in free fall for far too long. Why does the US bother? Apparently, Japan with rising inflation stoked by a depreciating currency not wanting to raise interest rates had to defend its […]
Dr Skye C. Cleary is a philosopher and writer. She teaches at Columbia University, Barnard College, and the City University of New York, and is the author of “Existentialism and Romantic Love” and co-editor of “How to Live a Good Life”. In this piece she analyses one of the most celebrated lectures ever given on […]
Marcellus’ Global Compounders Portfolio (GCP) strategically invests in ~40 deeply moated global companies aligned with megatrends, with an aim to provide steady earnings growth and shareholder wealth compounding. Our underperformance vs S&P500 in 2026 has played out in two parts – in line until Feb’26 and underperformance post that. Two factors explain the underperformance: 1) […]
Between January-June 2026, South Korean retail investors borrowed their way from US$19bn to a record US$27bn of margin credit to chase an AI-driven stocks. When the KOSPI broke, 1.2 million leveraged accounts were margin-called and roughly 360,000 were liquidated. India’s equivalent instrument, the Margin Trading Facility, has grown 6x in three years to ₹1.43 lakh […]
In our national bestseller, Breakpoint, we explain that three forces are squeezing India’s middle class: quality jobs have become scarce, wages are rising at a slower pace than cost of living, and Indian households have become amongst the world’s most indebted. With Indian entering Sankat Kaal net foreign direct investment has all but disappeared as […]
A ₹1 lakh investment in the Nifty in November 1995 would be worth roughly ₹36 lakh today, assuming dividends were reinvested. However, 2/3rds of that ₹36 lakh has come in the last 10 years (with the first two decades feeling slow, boring and punctuated by horrific years like 2008). That’s why long-term compounding is easy […]
There was a time when doing honest work, raising a family well and leaving one’s children slightly better off was considered a successful life. Today, being exceptional has shifted from an aspiration to an obligation. Children must excel at everything, professionals must build personal brands, entrepreneurs must create unicorns, and even hobbies are expected to […]
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