Long read: The Decline and Fall of the Petrodollar?
There has been increasing talk of global trade, especially oil, moving away from being priced in US dollars thereby ending the American monetary hegemony. This piece gives a bit of historical context to why ‘petrodollars’ exist in the first place and why it isn’t going away anytime soon. “Although “petrodollars” refers simply to oil priced […]
Long read: The search for the random numbers that run our lives
On a given day, most of us end up entering at least a couple of OTPs into our devices. These OTPs are examples of how random numbers now run our lives. And yet these random numbers are not easy to generate. In this thought provoking piece Chris Baraniuk explains why that is. Part of the […]
Long read: In A Parched Summer, India’s Water Stewards Show The Way Out
Before the rains came this year, the urban elite wrung their hands in despair – like they do every year – about the ongoing water shortage. Thankfully, in the real world, less privileged Indians whose lives and livelihoods hinge on access to water are redesigning their lives around reduced use of water. Azera Parveen Rahman’s […]
Rising Giants: Spotlighting Eureka Forbes
In this month’s newsletter, we delve deeper into Eureka Forbes Limited (EFL) one of the new additions to the portfolio. We see several earnings growth levers for EFL over the next 5 years: (a) Increase in the water purifiers (WP) category penetration backed by improved tap water supply, and initiatives taken by the WP companies […]
Short read: Good luck finding another Rahul Dravid
India’s cricket world cup win after more than a decade and a half has expectedly triggered plenty of tributes for the team and players. However, we chose to feature this piece on the man, we at Marcellus admire a lot for what he is both on and off the field – the coach and legend, […]
Short read: The continuing relevance of Franz Kafka, 100 years after his death
Last month, the world remembered Franz Kafka on his 100th death anniversary with almost every author and publication across the globe paying their tribute. Indian publications haven’t been behind either with several tributes showing how far and wide the man’s impact has been a century after his death. “Born in 1883 in Prague, then part […]
Short read: School children sang anthem too softly – Hong Kong
The latest indication of the desperate mindset of the Communist Party high command in Beijing is this article from the BBC which says: “Hong Kong officials have singled out at least two schools for singing the Chinese national anthem “too softly”. Teachers at a third school have been asked to help students “cultivate habit and […]
Long read: The House of Arnault
Following up on the pieces on Hermès we featured in the past two months is this long read on Bloomberg about the only other luxury goods company that comes close to Hermes – LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy). The piece is as much about the firm as its chairman and CEO, Bernard Arnault, who “…Over the […]
Long read: The Supreme Court just made a massive power grab it will come to regret
India is not the only free market democratic nation grappling with the delicate balance of power between the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary. When we discuss this subject with thinking Americans, we find them even more worried about this subject than we are. Last week, in a remarkable judgement, the American Supreme Court dramatically […]
Long read: How Buddhists lost out to Brahmins in Nalanda (even before the Turks came)
Most of us have grown up believing that: (a) Nalanda was the first organised university in the world; and (b) Turkic raiders burnt it to the ground in the 12th century. Historian Anirudh Kanisetti challenges both of these conventional notions in this punchy piece for The Print. Mr. Kanisetti does not dispute Nalanda’s 1500 year old […]
CCP’s Amplified Exposure to ‘Enterprising Compounders’
Businesses with strong competitive advantages (and hence high ROCEs), can be categorized into different types based on their capital allocation decisions. Amongst these, the most enterprising ones (the ‘enterprising compounders’) are those which reinvest capital not only to strengthen and evolve their core business, but also to scale up new businesses consistently. Shareholder returns from such businesses […]
Short read: Three-legged lion makes record-breaking swim across a crocodile-infested river – for sex
During our teenage years most of us understood that sex is a critically important aspect of human life. Then the stress of the workplace and the onset of family life made us want to climb up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs i.e. music, culture, philosophy, etc. Therefore it is good to be reminded by other (carnivorous) […]
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