Short read: Access to reading glasses can boost India’s GDP by $16 billion
Whilst our politicians promise to lead us towards a land of milk & honey, a more prosaic intervention might produce enormous benefits for over 200 million people in India. Amit Gupta of The Print informs us that: “According to estimates, the productivity of 40% of India’s 600 million-strong workforce is significantly impacted by uncorrected presbyopia […]
Long read: Why Physics Is Unreasonably Good at Creating New Math
When we were young, we were told Math is fundamental to learn everything else. And as we grew up we began to appreciate it – why without we couldn’t appreciate Physics, without which we couldn’t comprehend Chemistry without which we couldn’t explain Biology, to Psychology leading to social sciences such as economics all the way […]
Long read: The cocaine kingpin’s wildest legacy: what can be done with Pablo Escobar’s marauding hippos?
Most of us probably take multiple small steps everyday which appear to us to be pretty harmless (eg. leaving the tap running whilst we are shaving) but which collectively destabilise the environment. This remarkable long read in The Guardian is about a single act of negligence which has served to destabilise the ecology of Colombia. […]
Long read: How Punjabi megastar Diljit Dosanjh is inspiring the next gen
In “Behold the Leviathan: The Unusual Rise of Modern India”, our forthcoming book which will be published by Penguin Random House on 21st Oct (see here ), we highlight the rise of a new Indian elite, namely, people without IIT/IIM/foreign degrees, people who are more comfortable in the vernacular than in English and people who […]
‘Capitalism Without Capital’ Finds Strength in India
Whilst capitalism without capital, i.e., the growing prominence of companies who are plays on intellectual rather than physical assets, became established in the developed economies a generation ago, it’s now increasingly prominent amongst Indian companies, both large and small. Specifically, the fastest growth in PAT in the last 10 years has been in decile 2 […]
Short Read: Can You Have too Much Money?
Can money buy happiness? As with most philosophical questions, a simple yes or a no both miss the nuance. In this podcast, Barry Ritholtz chats with Brian Partnoy, both gents help people build wealth to fulfil their financial goals or as Partnoy’s firm says they are an outsourced Chief Behavioral Officer who help people achieve […]
Short Read: Scientists find Humans Age Dramatically in two Bursts – at 44, then 60
With progress in medical science helping fight a number of life-threatening diseases, life expectancy is rising across the world driving the need to improve the quality of lives in old age. This in turn has spawned off a whole new field of research in anti-ageing. One such study has come out with startling findings that […]
Short Read: Nashik Dhol: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Dhol Players in Ganesh Festivities
As the annual Ganpati Puja celebrations wind-up in Maharashtra, the Indian Express has produced a timely piece about the multi-ethnic nature of such celebrations. Zeeshan Shaikh writes, “The deep resonant beats of the dhol and the sharp rhythmic sounds of the tasha are quintessential to Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Maharashtra. Ganesh Utsav, commonly known as […]
Long Read: The Kindle: Reinventing the Book
Many of us who love reading still romanticize reading off a paperback. But the greediest of us would agree that an e-reader wins hands down in terms of utility – we don’t have to be happy carrying books with us wherever we go, we can take the library with us. And the ubiquitous e-reader has […]
Long read: Private Coaching rise is now a Prestige issue for Indian Families. That’s a Vicious turn
Dr Palash Baruah is Associate Fellow at National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi and DL Wankhar is a retired officer of the Government of India. In this piece for The Print, they use publicly available data to highlight the rapid surge – across rural and urban areas – in spending on private […]
Long read: The Midwives who stopped murdering Girls and started saving them
On 21st October our next book “Behold the Leviathan: The Unusual Rise of Modern India” will be published by Penguin Random House. One of the central tenets of the book is the explosive acceleration in the levels of educational attainment, employment and entrepreneurial success of Indian women. Whilst we look forward to discussing with you how we are […]
Portfolio Performance and Update on Fundamentals – August 2024
Consistent Compounders Portfolio (CCP) Performance of Marcellus’ CCP portfolio has turned a corner in absolute returns over the last 18 months and in relative returns (relative to Nifty50 TRI) over the last six months. This is attributed to both the upgrades made to our portfolio construction approach as well as to the strong performance of […]
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