The myth of the ‘Asian Century’
Here’s another angle at the changing world order. Economics and political commentators around the world have talked about the so called ‘Asian Century’, implying Asia will dominate the global economy and hence influence the world order. In this piece, Martin Wolf, the chief economics commentator at the FT, debunks the myth of the Asian century, […]
What would humans do in a world of super-AI?
Whilst there is no doubt that Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, much like other predecessor technologies it is clearly going through its own hype cycle. The hype is not just in the form of its commercial potential but also its supposedly destructive effect on humanity. But given the recent statements by Sam Altman, the […]
Women lead Indian families as men migrate
Continuing with our series of articles capturing the ascent of Indian women, we found this lovely piece by Divya Arya. The insight she has captured is counterintuitive: as rural men migrate to cities in search of employment, their wives are becoming the head of the household in the village. As Ms Arya explains this is […]
How the US is deepening military alliances in China’s backyard
This long read in the FT gives you an in-depth perspective of America and its allies are preparing for war with China. Whilst the Americans’ public rhetoric might be one of a country which is willing to go the extra mile to avoid armed conflict with China, the military prep detailed in this piece points […]
Are You Benefitting from Double Engine Compounding?
In an era of growing protectionism and rising geopolitical tensions, the world’s two largest democracies – America and India – offer investors a chance to benefit from a golden decade of compounding. Given China and Russia’s belligerence vis-à-vis America and given China’s multiple assaults on India’s borders, the two giant free market democracies have little […]
The Consumerization of Credit in India
In the last couple of years, India’s financial services sector has crossed a significant milestone – for the first time the size of retail credit (i.e. credit extended to consumers) is now larger than corporate credit. In this newsletter, we discuss reasons behind the success of high-quality lenders (like HDFC Bank, Chola Investment & Finance […]
Vicious Traps
Much like perfectionism and meritocracy can have their own shortcomings, Morgan Housel writes in this piece about how two different admirable personality traits by themselves when combined in the wrong way can turn vicious. He talks about the potentially harmful effects when patience combines with confidence, curiosity with boldness and humility with ambition and how […]
“The Perfection Trap” decries what it calls a “hidden epidemic”
The performance culture that modern capitalistic professional life is driven by seems to have its downsides. Social psychologist Thomas Curran’s new book ‘The Perfection Trap’ is reviewed here by the Economist. The author believes that “…the obsessive pursuit of ever higher standards, rather than propelling achievement, is mainly a scourge.” He reckons the causes are social and […]
Henry Kissinger’s Bloody Legacy
Last week, Henry Kissinger, America’s most famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) Secretary of State turned 100. For reasons we don’t fully understand, Kissinger and the President he served, Richard Nixon, harboured a deep antipathy towards India. The damage Kissinger did to Indo-US relations took 30 years to repair. Lest we forget […]
Belief, support and a long rope: how Chennai Super Kings have built a consistently odds-beating side
Yet another IPL related long piece this week. But this is neither about the game nor the economics of it. This piece is a Master Class in building teams with a people centric culture which all of us in our professions, business or otherwise can draw lessons from. This piece was published before the IPL […]
Buffett’s intriguing bet on Japan
Over the past three years, Warren Buffett has gradually accumulated stakes in five Japanese conglomerates, the so-called soga shosha, namely, Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui, and Sumitomo Corp. As Japan recovers from what felt like a 30-year downturn, these Buffett’s investments in Japan (which are, intriguingly, funded by a yen denominated loan) are […]
Business Breakdowns podcast – IPL: The World’s Fastest Growing Sports League
Even by the high standards of Business Breakdowns, this is a super engrossing podcast on how cleverly the IPL has been constructed from its inception in 2008. Ed Cowan does a great job of explaining the business model of the IPL and the nuances which have allowed it to create tens of billions of dollars […]
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