Recession, Recession, Why Such Confusion

It’s a year since the worst of the Covid-19 outbreaks, and with most people fully vaccinated in many countries, economies are getting back to work. The biggest concern, though, around the world is soaring inflation which is well-entrenched now and broadbased, so interest rate hikes to tame it are in full swing. The tightening of… Continue reading Recession, Recession, Why Such Confusion

Pay Attention to the Cyclical Economy

After reading news of India’s first quarter GDP for FY 23, which showed little sign of a base effect despite the fact that in FY 22, we had grown 20.1% in the same quarter, we are likely to think that base effects don’t matter anymore. It would be unwise to think so, however, because this… Continue reading Pay Attention to the Cyclical Economy

Geopolitical Tensions Derailing Economic Recovery

In my second Owleye column on my blog, I had called the geopolitical tensions emanating out of Russia and China at the time a red herring. I had written that the world, especially the media, were busy talking up the threat of war by Russia and China over Ukraine and Taiwan respectively. I was wrong.… Continue reading Geopolitical Tensions Derailing Economic Recovery

Tea Wellness as Part of Brand India

Many months ago, I had written a blog post as well as a SlideShare presentation on Indian companies and brands in the global arena. In it, I had shared my thoughts on how many Indian companies had gone global in operations, but hadn’t done enough to build global brands yet. I had also shared my… Continue reading Tea Wellness as Part of Brand India

After the Pandemic, the Rate Hike Stranglehold

The Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t quite gone away yet and the global economy faces several headwinds going forward into the rest of this year and the next. Some of it is due to the hangover effects of the pandemic and others due to new challenges arising out of those. The main challenges to global economic growth… Continue reading After the Pandemic, the Rate Hike Stranglehold

Nothing Succeeds Like Success, Until You’re Lost

In connection with my last blog post on brands in which I had written about how brands that take a long hiatus can make a comeback, I would now like to think and write about hugely successful brands that lose their way. Not that they disappear, just that they seem to be stuck in a… Continue reading Nothing Succeeds Like Success, Until You’re Lost

When Times Change, Technologies Change, But Brands Don’t

In my previous post on the Indian automobile industry, I had said that perhaps the time has come for the small, entry-level car in India to be reinvented. Runaway inflation in fuel prices as well as prices of vehicles have put these sub-compact and compact cars beyond the reach of ordinary, first-time car buyers in… Continue reading When Times Change, Technologies Change, But Brands Don’t

Let’s Get Digital Brands Growing

Regular readers of my blog probably know well by now that I don’t think the digital medium is suited to brand-building. At least not in its current form. I have written a few pieces on the subject already. And many might be wondering why I would even be remotely interested in writing about digital brands,… Continue reading Let’s Get Digital Brands Growing

IFAFF Is What It All Amounts To

President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) plan for reviving ties with the Asia-Pacific region is a PR ploy to paper over large cracks in the region in the recent past. Right from the pivot to Asia announced by President Obama’s administration in 2009, which led to the creation of the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership (TPP)… Continue reading IFAFF Is What It All Amounts To

Development and All That We Understand by It

When reading newspapers or books or watching the news, we often come across the word development. It is a term so often used to mean growth, loosely speaking, that when attached to any other word, it takes on new meanings. Urban development, rural development, industrial development, sustainable development, etc. Then, of course, we have the… Continue reading Development and All That We Understand by It