Why Financial Manias Persist
This is not exactly a review of William Bernstein’s recent book “The Delusion of Crowds” but the blog seems to feed off the book’s central theme and a bit more. Ben draws from the book key characteristics that define a financial mania and then applies it to the current context to see if we are in […]
How a ‘fatally, tragically flawed’ paradigm has derailed the science of obesity
Obesity has been growing as an epidemic of sorts across the world, especially in the rich world (12% of the population sixty years ago to more than 40% today in the US) and its tendency to spawn off other health disorders makes it even more dangerous. The long-held belief as the most common reason for obesity […]
How Aristotle created the computer
One of the most interesting things about technology is that it has two distinct strands to it. The obvious strand is what technology is usually associated with i.e. software programming and hardware like chips and transistors. The less obvious and more intriguing strand is the one which links technology to maths, logic and thence to […]
Caste, ethnicity, religion – United colours of Indian hockey prove the game thrives in inclusivity
Whilst it has been a lot of fun watching India beat England in England in the recent Test cricket series, the sports highlight of the summer for many of us at Marcellus has been the spine tingling performances of the Indian women’s and men’s hockey teams at the Tokyo Olympics. With breathtaking power, skill and […]
Here’s Where Our Minds Sharpen in Old Age
Some of us enjoy getting beaten hollow by our kids in a game of FIFA on the Playstation but we also get reminded at how our reflexes have slowed with age. Whether its sport or driving or memory, popular understanding is that ageing slows us down. However, this piece in the Nautilus points to a […]
Are you really sorted out?
Here’s another gem from Anand Sridharan for more reasons than one, least of which is the cricketing analogy to drive home an important lesson in investing. As fans of the game, especially of Rahul Dravid, we have indulged quite a bit in our recently published book Diamonds in the Dust. But more importantly this essay brings […]
MIT-designed project achieves major advance toward fusion energy
The fight against climate change with adoption of clean energy has accelerated over the past decade with significant drop in costs of among others, solar, wind and hydrogen fuel technology. But news from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earlier this week about a significant breakthrough in fusion energy technology, arguably the cleanest of them all, […]
Turn and Face the Strange
Michael Mauboussin and Dan Callahan have been producing some brilliant research pieces off late for Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global Insights. This one is about what investment firms can learn from the world of sport about adapting to change. Basketball fans will particularly enjoy this as it has plenty of data-based analysis on the rather slow adoption […]
This is why all electric cars look exactly the same
Since a electric car is a computer on wheels, this article by Alistair Charlton posits that all electric cars will look the same (for much the same reason that all laptops and all tablet PCs look the same): “The future of car design is all about skateboards and top hats. The former refers to the flat, […]
Jack Ma’s Bund Finance Summit Speech
On 24th October 2020 Jack Ma gave a speech which seems to have catalysed a Chinese government crackdown on that country’s super-successful internet businesses. Whilst there has been lots said of what exactly Jack Ma said that day and why that led to Ant Financial’s IPO being jammed by the regulator and then the broader crackdown […]
Downside Protection > Upside Generation in Small Caps
The need of protecting portfolio value in a downturn is equally, if not more, important than chasing returns in a bull market. Compounding from a larger base generates higher returns than compounding at a faster pace from a much smaller base. Indeed, sharper falls (drawdowns) during market downturns and higher frequency of such falls are […]
Why Zuckerberg Wants Us All in the ‘Metaverse’
As the chart in this article shows, Google searches for ‘Metaverse’ shot through in August with references to it by some of the world’s most powerful people, most notably Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. This article by Scott Galloway, a Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern, first helps us understand what various people mean when they say […]
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