The second of the books my aged father presented me for my birthday this year is The Silk Road: A New History by Valerie Hansen. Written and published in 2012 by OUP, the book is an account of life in Central Asia and Western China during ancient times when the Silk Road trade is said… Continue reading The Silk Road: A New History Full of Strange Surprises
The world has gone through so much turmoil since the start of this century of all kinds - economic, political, environmental and health-related - that it’s worth sparing a few moments to think about the role of the United Nations and the work that it does. Most of the time we take the UN for… Continue reading Making the United Nations Fit for the 21st Century
I last wrote about Europe’s economy about five months ago and I had said that the EU needs to come to grips with the geo-economic challenges that it faces. In that piece, I had focused on the deep dependencies that Europe has developed with large powers such as the US and Russia, and perhaps also… Continue reading Could European Reforms Go Wrong with the Rise of the Far Right?
Only recently I wrote about corporate India’s earnings for the June quarter of FY27 which were reasonably good, although one must point out that the effects of the Iran war hadn’t fully been felt in the June quarter. Now, it’s time for us to look forward to the September quarter of FY27, which will probably… Continue reading What is the State of Brand India Inc?
Having just written last month about the state of the global economy, especially the developed major economies, I thought I’d write about how the Global South is faring under the same pressures of geopolitical tensions, war and tariffs. This is the entire region dominated by developing, emerging and low and middle-income countries that even ordinarily… Continue reading Crises of Debt and Demography in the Global South
After my two articles earlier this year on the global economy, I think it is time to reassess the economic situation that prevails around the world and what can be done about it. I don’t think any discussion on the global economy can take place right now without US tariffs, geopolitical tensions and the Iran… Continue reading Global Economy in the Grip of Bad Policies
I am talking about Aston Martin, of course. Hard to imagine that the ultimate rescue vehicle for 007 is now itself in need of rescuing. I was quite surprised by the news that Aston Martin is in financial trouble and that its Q2 2026 earnings were very disappointing. I wonder why this should be, and… Continue reading Rescuing and Reviving 007’s Car Brand
As corporate earnings stream in for Q1 FY27 they seem to be suggesting that revenue growth is good, albeit weakening, and that margins are under pressure. This is hardly surprising since most companies do not seem to have responded to rising prices of inputs and commodities with price increases. Therefore, margins are under pressure, though… Continue reading The Strong Profits, Weak Investment Conundrum of the Private Sector
“Open AI’s definition of AGI (artificial general intelligence): Highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.” “Computer science and AI community are gripped by an ideological vision that places AGI, meaning machines, that exceed all human capabilities, as its highest possible pursuit.” The statements above are from a research paper/essay by MIT… Continue reading Imagining the AI Economy
The world’s second largest economy has mostly been in the news for its slowing domestic consumption and for the overcapacity it has generated in high-tech industries which still keeps powering the economy through exports. While both these are true, it is perhaps time to explore the Chinese economy a little more in detail for it’s… Continue reading What We Can Learn from China’s Two Speed Economy
