The dinosaurs missed a trick when the comet (asteroid ?) hit the
Yucatan peninsula 65 million years ago. They should have taken refuge in
India. They wouldn't have gone extinct. India is veritably the land of
the dinosaurs.
Well, at least corporate India is. In India, no company ever dies. It is extremely difficult to shut a company down in this country. They will live on for ever. Take the...
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
Monday, 25 May 2015
I agree with Elizabeth Warren !
Readers of my last few posts on TPP would have noticed my complete disagreement with one Elizabeth Warren - junior Senator from the Bay State of Massachusetts. In this blogger's humble opinion she is a card carrying member of the loony left. And yet, here is proof that even from the loony left, an occasional wise word may arise (granted this is as rare as a bright sunny day in the great state of...
Friday, 22 May 2015
In defence of TPP - Secrecy in Negotiations
One of the biggest criticisms of the TPP in the US has been that the negotiations with other countries have been carried on in secrecy by the US government. US politicians have been falling over to yell themselves hoarse against this. When Wikileaks published confidential negotiation documents in their expose, there was much ballyhoo of how evil the government was.
Stuff and Nonsense. (The Queen...
Thursday, 21 May 2015
In defence of TPP - Environment and Intellectual property
In this post I'll tackle the issues raised against the TPP in the areas of environment and intellectual property.
The opposition to the TPP from environmental activists comes from two contradictory positions - one is that any promotion of trade and economic activity leads to degradation of the environment and therefore must be stopped. The second argument is that the TPP does not go far...
Wednesday, 20 May 2015
In defence of TPP - the loss of jobs
The opposition from labour unions in the US ( and labour activists everywhere in the world) to the TPP is that it will lead to the loss manufacturing jobs (read in the US) and therefore it is anti labour. I have some sympathy for the view of the labour unions in the US, but absolutely no sympathy for the "global labour activists".
In every change of the status quo, including opening up of...
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
In defence of TPP - the arbitration clause
One of the big issues in a trade relationship involving multiple countries is what happens if a country unilaterally decides to ban a product, or raise import duties astronomically, or take a similar form of unilateral action that dramatically affects the viability of a foreign investor's project. This might go against something that the government itself contractually agreed with the investor. What...
Monday, 18 May 2015
In defence of TPP
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade deal that 12 countries bordering the Pacific Ocean are negotiating. The countries include the USA, Japan, Australia and Canada, but exclude China. The TPP is being vigorously opposed by a collection of groups - Democrats in the US, environmental groups, labour unions and even Medicines Sans Frontiers. There is much fear mongering and shrill yelling,...
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
How does an American pronounce Pallagoundenpalayam ?
The most unlikely of bedfellows can come together in the business world. Consider this rather unusual "marriage".
The
bride is the city of Detroit. We shouldn't be uncharitable to a bride,
but the immediate words that come to mind when you mention Detroit are
decay, dilapidated, joblessness, ...
Saturday, 9 May 2015
Call the SNP's bluff
Just in case you were not following the British elections, a small earthquake happened. The Tories won, the Lib Dems were wiped out, Labour performed poorly, and UKIP performed well but got no rewards. The bigger earthquake happened north of the border where the Scottish Nationalist party (SNP)...
Thursday, 7 May 2015
A tough ethical issue
Businesses are often considered as machines without a heart. But even businesses face some gut wrenching ethical issues , where the "right" course of action is by no means obvious. Take the case of the compassionate care issue face by pharmaceutical companies.
Drugs produced by pharmaceutical companies are marketed after years, and sometimes, decades of clinical trials. They have to be approved...
Friday, 24 April 2015
Two and three quarters cheers for Dan Price
It would be really churlish to sing anything but the loudest praise for Dan Price. And yet this blogger is falling short of raising three cheers for him.
Dan Price is the CEO of a privately held small company called Gravity Payments with about 120 employees. About two weeks ago, he called all...
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
The most valuable activity of the human race
In a free world, the price of anything
is a reflection of its true worth to people. Something is valued high if
it is important to a lot of people. It is valued low if its not so
important - OK you can quibble about supply and demand, but in the end,
value is a reflection of the worth in...
Sunday, 19 April 2015
Really Walmart ? Plumbing ??
Walmart closed down five stores in the US. What's new ? This happens all the time - stores are closed and stores are opened. So what ? What is strange is the reason it was done and the manner in which it was done.
Walmart announced to its employees two hours before store closing time on Monday...
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
On Friday, the world shook
Last Friday, the world shook. You can be forgiven for not noticing, for, it was the business world that shook. GE announced it was going to virtually sell all of GE Capital.
GE is one of the, if not THE greatest company on earth. It is the old fashioned industrial conglomerate making everything...
Friday, 10 April 2015
Borrow at negative interest rates ? What has the world come to
Sometimes the world of finance is utterly incomprehensible to , well, even finance guys. Take for instance what has been happening in Europe.
A few governments in Europe have been issuing short term bonds carrying negative interest rates. That means you pay for the privilege of lending to the...
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
The problem with being an uncle
This blogger is of an age when being called an uncle is rather a compliment. He is precariously close to being called a grandpa. So much so that he cannot understand the brouhaha that the term "uncle" has caused.
The Air India flight from Jaipur to Delhi , a few days back, should have been an...
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
Agree with Red Ed
I never thought I would never agree with anything in Mr Miliband's economic policy. If you are wondering who Mr Miliband (or Red Ed as he is sometimes called) is, he is the head of the Labour Party in the UK. In case you haven't been looking, there is a general election about to happen in the UK,...
Sunday, 29 March 2015
Screw around with Kraft
What do you call something who is passed from hand to hand ? Used goods ? Probably something worse ? Well, that is what we have to call Kraft these days.
With a touch of slight (?) exaggeration, you could say that the land of mom and apple pie, could be stretched to include Kraft too ! Read...
Monday, 2 February 2015
Business gives way to travel
I am on my annual road trip and this blog will go to sleep for a while.
I will instead be blogging on my travel blog which is here.
Business can wait until I return...
Tuesday, 20 January 2015
The tortoise may overtake the hare
Sometime in 2015, or more likely 2016, or maybe 2017, India will overtake China as the fastest growing large economy in the world. It could potentially be a historic moment, for India and the world. The opportunity is India's to grasp, or equally likely, drop.
China's economy is slowing....
Sunday, 11 January 2015
Deflation: a curse or a boon ?
Stock markets tumbled last Monday. Investors claimed they were worried by two things - Deflation and the possibility (yet again) of a Greek exit from the Euro. Even Rajalakshmi, she who is sitting in front of CNBC doing day trading, claimed to be concerned about deflation. Assuming that she can spell...
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Oh No, you too China ?
The United States believes, sometimes, that it is so unique that it exists in Planet HIP 116454b (discovered yesterday). Some of its laws and practices are completely unintelligible to other members of the species Homo Sapiens. Chief amongst them is its laws relating to guns. A lesser dramatic field...
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