It's not a New Year resolution, but I thought it might be a good idea for me to attempt podcasting in 2020 as a way of adding another dimension to my blog. And in keeping with the tradition of my blog, the podcasts too will be written at the intersection of business, economics, politics and… Continue reading Five Highs and Lows in 2020: Owl Wisdom Podcast
Never was there a parliamentary election in the UK more consequential and important than the one that just concluded a fortnight ago. It was supposed to be about Britain searching for her identity, her place in the world. Instead, it was just another referendum on Brexit, as was expected. After all the political theatre around… Continue reading Why Britain Might Be Leaving Its Future Behind in 2019 Election
As we draw down to the end of the year, my memories of 2019 will be conflict, protest marches, pellets, pepper spray and tear gas. Hundreds killed too, as in the cities of Iraq over the past two months. It is over a decade since the financial crisis began. And it was believed to have… Continue reading 2019: The Year for Pellets, Pepper Spray and Protests
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” - Winston Churchill Just as there is a lot of talk about brand purpose these days, there is also a lot of discussion about capitalism and more importantly, what kind. Ever since the… Continue reading Capitalism Waiting for a Future
It’s around three and a half years since Britons voted in a referendum to leave the European Union by a narrow margin of 52 to 48. That alone should have told UK’s lawmakers how divided opinion is on the issue of whether to leave the 40-year old union with the European Union. After all these… Continue reading Businesses Brace for Brexit Doldrums
When we look at the state of the global economy, the US-China trade war, the Brexit drama as it unfolds in parliament which has been prorogued, the immigration debate or indeed, the economic slowdown in India, it becomes quite apparent that what we are witnessing is not greater turbulence, but less leadership. And less of… Continue reading Leadership in Today’s World
In March 2018, President Trump said that “Trade wars are good and easy to win.” As economies and markets roil in the throes of the year-and-a-half long US-China trade war, it is perhaps time to ask who is a trade war good for and what impact it is having on business and ordinary people. By… Continue reading Just Who Is a Trade War “Good” For?
It has been several months and quarters of agony for the Indian automobile industry, what with vehicle sales falling. The rapid growth rate registered in the 2004 to 2013 period seems to have sputtered to a slow growth, if that. Newspapers and magazines are suddenly full of news about falling vehicle sales and job losses;… Continue reading Stuck in the Slow Lane
If, after watching news of the recently concluded G20 Summit, you got the impression that the global economy is chugging along fine and that countries were getting along fine, you can attribute it to one person: the world leader with the world-leading tweet! After firing off a set of confrontational tweets in customary style, Trump… Continue reading G20: A Summit in Need of Statesmanship
I don’t know about you, but the year 2015 was defined for me by images of hordes of people clambering on to boats to take them across the Mediterranean. Many making it to their destination and many others meeting a watery grave. Since then the sea has become a sort of metaphor for the European… Continue reading After the Financial Crisis, the World at Cultural Crossroads
Peripatetic Perch 