There are many brands that we grow up with and are an intrinsic part of our lives. Some fade away into oblivion, but most stay around and strengthen their relationships with consumers. And even when we outgrow them, there is always another set of consumers to take our place. There’s a curious thing I observed… Continue reading Brands Relaunching After a Long Hiatus.
Since inflation is the most important topic of discussion these days across the world, I began to think about how that affects brands and how brands in turn manage inflation. Is there a connection at all, and if so, what are the different dynamics at work? Effects of cost-push inflation At the outset, all companies… Continue reading Brands and Inflation, What’s the Connection?
Since the 1990s, the world economy has been so used to growing along with China, that it’s almost impossible to imagine a world without the Chinese growth engine. That’s because the Chinese economy liberalized in the 1980s and began to trade and do business freely with the rest of the world. They became a member… Continue reading Growth Pangs Sans China
While I was still contemplating buying Amitav Ghosh’s newest book, The Nutmeg’s Curse, my father had already ordered it from Amazon India. Well, I’m not complaining. I greatly admire his writing, having owned and read several of his books, before I lost almost all of my books to termites at my parents’ flat in Goa.… Continue reading The Nutmeg’s Curse, of Colonisation and Capitalism
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that corporate India has had a good run for the past few years. Ever since the generous tax cuts given by the government in 2019, in order to boost investment, that is. We have yet to see the investment commensurate with such tax breaks, but that their earnings have… Continue reading Possible Reversals Ahead for India Inc
In its second month now, the Russia-Ukraine war shows no signs of abating. In fact, it looks like it could drag on for months, if not years. It is already taking a huge toll on Ukrainian’s lives, their country, Europe and the global economy. I am not sure if the Western countries’ economic sanctions on… Continue reading Between Speeches and a Stalemate
Minouche Shafik’s new book, What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract seems perfectly timed, with the world teetering between the 2008 financial crisis and a global pandemic. The book is not written for the general reader, but I think that they too might like it. They would like it for her astute observations… Continue reading A New Social Contract for a New Kind of Economy
Perhaps, not since WWII and then the 1970s, has the world had to deal with the economic effects of a war such as the current one on in Ukraine against Russia. The 8-year war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s, and later wars in the Islamic world too had their biggest impact on oil… Continue reading Wartime Priorities for Governments the World Over
Emerging out of the Covid-19 pandemic, global economic recovery is proving to be a tricky business, requiring a delicate balancing act by governments and central banks. This is because most of the world has racked up huge amounts of debt, while trying to stimulate their economies, in addition to the debt they already had. Western… Continue reading World Caught Between Soaring Inflation and Debt
It has often struck me as strange that the much-vaunted French luxury industry, a growing and sizeable part of the French economy, doesn’t include automobiles, especially passenger vehicles. Given their penchant for design, their understanding of exclusivity and luxury and their engineering prowess especially in aviation and high-speed rail, it is rather strange that they… Continue reading Why Do Cars Get the Cold Shoulder in French Luxury?
Peripatetic Perch 