Acceleration in growth rates of CCP companies’ fundamentals
Marcellus’ CCP companies grew their revenues in 3QFY22 (vs 3QFY20) at 19% CAGR. This is significantly higher than: a) the 17% revenue growth reported over FY14-19 (i.e. prior to Covid-19); and b) the 16% revenue CAGR that was reported in 2QFY22 (vs 2QFY20). The drivers of this acceleration can be categorized into two types. Firstly, […]
The charm of Bappi Lahiri
For those of us who went to school in the 1980s, Bappida was the coolest, hippest music composer because he had almost singlehandedly dragged India into the disco age. Just as RD Burman captured the fusion of Indian, jazz and rock better than any other music composer, Bappi Lahiri blended desi and disco and booked […]
In Hong Kong, China’s ‘covid zero’ strategy is falling apart
In the rest of China, the Government’s approach to dealing with Covid-19 involved brute force and a dodgy vaccine: “China fought the virus in Beijing, Xi’an, Tianjin and in Henan province by flooding the zone with testing, tightly restricting flights and mobility, and aggressively isolating those who tested positive, locking down whole cities when necessary. In […]
The Calorie Counter: Evolutionary anthropologist Herman Pontzer busts myths about how humans burn calories—and why
Herman Pontzer, a scientist at Duke University, has conducted research and shown what some of us have long suspected: exercise and a more active life does NOT help you lose calories. What exercise does is it helps you stay healthy, stay fit i.e. those who exercise more tend to suffer fewer illnesses as they age. […]
Do Most Family Businesses Really Fail by the Third Generation?
Even in the current age of tech & digital, the dominant form taken by private sector enterprise is the family run business rather than listed businesses. Both in India and in the US such family run businesses account for the vast majority of the nation’s employment: “According to the U.S. Census Bureau, family businesses — companies […]
They save skiers and hikers in the wilderness. Here’s how they think about resilience.
Covid-19 and its aftermath has made even the most resilient of us take mental punches as the lives of our nearest & dearest were turned upside down by the pandemic. In such circumstances it is useful to take inspiration from those who face psychological pressures and physical dangers far more intense that what we encounter […]
Archaic laws criminalise entrepreneurs
We have run Financial Services businesses outside India and now in India, we have the good fortune of managing Marcellus. We find that the contrast between how the law treats entrepreneurs in the developed world and in India remains stark (even after 30 years of liberalisation). As a result, Marcellus has a large and growing […]
Busting Popular Macroeconomic Myths
Fact#1: Economic recoveries tend to be accompanied by elevated rates of inflation, rising interest and RISING stock markets. Fact#2: Furthermore, during periods of higher than usual inflation, high quality stocks tend to strongly OUTPERFORM the broader benchmarks. These two points are supported not just by theory but also by several decades of economic and financial […]
‘There was joy, serenity and absolute security in the music of Lata Mangeshkar’: Sharmila Tagore
As tributes continue to pour in for the late, the great Lata Mangeshkar, Sharmila Tagore reminisces about the songs which made the late singer an iconic figure in Indian cultural life: “In the 1950s and 60s, Lataji was singing a range of wonderful songs….She sang many raga-based songs for Naushad sahab, sentimental hits for Salil Chowdhury, […]
India was part of medieval arms race stretching from Russia, China to Iran. All for horses
Anirudh Kanisetti is part of new generation of scholars who are making Indian history accessible and interesting. He is the author of ‘Lords of the Deccan, a new history of medieval South India’, and hosts the ‘Echoes of India’ and Yuddha podcasts. In this piece he brings to our notice that as early as 700 […]
Rural women speaking their mind on camera: This is a compelling story that needs a wider audience
The Indian Express stands head and shoulders above any other mainstream English newspaper in India. The newspaper’s editors wrote an evocative piece last week on the remaking of India: “A film about the grassroots news organisation Khabar Lahariya has become the first from India to be nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature […]
Slow sex, long life
This is a rich, layered piece from Aeon which we would strongly recommend that you read in full. The author “Denis Noble is emeritus professor of cardiovascular physiology at the University of Oxford. He was the first to develop computer models of the heart, published in Nature in 1960, and is one of the founders of […]
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