Marcellus Insights
Long read: Stanford University professor Karl Deisseroth wins 2026 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine
It is that time of the year when distinguished scientific work contributing to human progress gets recognised – the week when Nobel prize winners are announced. This article features one who shared this year’s award in the field of medicine – Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University for his work in the new and exciting field […]
Long read: The truth behind Trump’s “biggest oil deal in world history”
Crude oil is India’s Achilles’ heel. Our energy dependence makes the price of oil one of the most critical inputs in our fiscal planning as well as in monetary policy actions. It follows that policymakers would have their eye on everything that happens in the global crude oil market. So, when a US president calls […]
Big Winners & Losers from India’s ‘Breakpoint’
Automation almost always displaces workers but whether it also impoverishes them is a political choice. Post-war America shared the gains from its machines with its workers until the 1970s; since 1979, a typical American worker’s pay has risen 33% while productivity has risen 94%. Germany faced the same situation but gave its workers a legal […]
What Enduring Companies Do in a Crisis
Good companies don’t become great by avoiding crises. They become great by how they handle them. We found this as a common trait across all the five companies featured in our new book, “The Art of Enduring”. This is the story of how Tata Elxsi and Divi’s turned their worst moments into turning points. If […]
Short read: The Index Fund Turns 50: How Jack Bogle Changed Investing Forever
Earlier this week, the Indian authorities granted Marcellus the license to operate a mutual fund company. We at Marcellus feel privileged to be given the opportunity to help Indian families fulfil their financial and hence life aspirations. With this responsibility, we feel appropriate to invoke the man who has made the most difference to ordinary […]
Short read: Who Says Reading Is Dead?
Several studies have shown the tragic decline of reading (especially for pleasure) across the world and across socioeconomic strata. Unsurprisingly, the advent and growth of social media use is often blamed for what is increasingly referred to as the ‘post literate’ world. However, there is an interesting aspect of ‘literacy’ that is rising that this […]
Short read: Who Is Really Rich in America? (Hint: Main Street Millionaires)
In a world with increasing wealth inequality, especially with a growing lot with stupendous wealth (even a trillionaire), wealth creation gets a negative connotation in social debates. Yet, there is a class of wealthy outside the mega tech deca/centi billionaires, that are ‘merely’ decamillionaires who have built their fortune in more unassuming ways. Nick Maggiulli […]
Long read: Now entering the era of ‘bleh’
Every business in the world today wants to be AI-first. Everyone wants to maximise productivity and get machines to do repeatable tasks. This lovely essay by Aaron Horwath begins with one such firm. Before Lukas Weber writes a word, he checks in with the small army of AI agents he has built: one has combed […]
Long read: Faster! Louder! Brighter! How the attention economy overwhelmed children’s TV
All of us have watched a scene similar to the one the author of this piece opens with. A restless kid at a wedding, or a couple of hours into a long drive, is handed a phone, and almost immediately goes quiet, eyes locked on the screen. Something bright is happening. A character in green […]
Long read: Why Western democracy is ailing, and how to fix it
An equity investor learns early to distrust headlines and headline numbers. Revenue growth tells you little until you know how a company is governed, whether its accounts are clean, and how its managers spend the cash they control. It is a discipline we rarely turn on the countries in which those companies operate. In this […]
How Gold Mines & Nuclear Power Plants Can Help Protect Your Wealth
An investor may be able to reduce their risk without necessarily giving up his return, simply by owning assets that do not rise and fall at the same time. Gold mines, nuclear power and commodities are three such assets: each has compounded in dollars over the past decade, yet each has moved very differently from […]
Short read: Plunging test scores are a slow-moving catastrophe
According to Wikipedia, “The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations intended to evaluate educational systems by measuring 15-year-old school pupils’ scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading. ” The study which began in 2000 and conducted every […]
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