At the time of writing this piece at home in Goa, Covid-19 rages on in towns and cities across India and around the world. There are fresh cases here as well, and it is hard to keep track of the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, as they accelerate with every passing day in India.… Continue reading Census in The Time of Covid
In five months of the Covid-19 global pandemic, we have seen the world lurch from one worldview and set of decisions to another, as countries try to contain the crisis. However, the crisis is both a public health one and an economic one and the biggest decisions governments will have to make is how to… Continue reading Preventing Global Economic Doomsday: Owl Wisdom Podcast
With the phenomenal growth of China over the past three decades and its adoption of capitalism and private enterprise, albeit with Chinese characteristics, we have to question many of our assumptions about capitalism, communism, free market economies and state control. Not only are some Chinese companies beginning to enjoy high market shares and market valuations,… Continue reading Brands and Democracy: Freedom of Choice Helps Brands Thrive
Let us not mistake today’s economic crisis in India for a purely Covid-related one. The Indian economy has been in slowdown mode since 2015. The past 5 years have been marred by one economic blunder after another, causing untold hardship and misery to millions of Indians. I won’t go into the details of those bad… Continue reading What Can Help the Blundering, Comatose Indian Economy?
As businesses slowly try to get back to work and shops and establishments open after the Covid-lockdown, it will be a while before people get used to the idea of moving around freely in our cities. Post-Covid, the automobile industry in China seems to be seeing a reasonable uptick in sales, though it is not… Continue reading Time for Automotive Industry to Change Lanes
As countries start relaxing their Covid lockdowns, we are also aware that Covid has still not left us. It will be many months, say scientists and medical researchers, before Covid-19 is vanquished. Not until a vaccine is discovered, that is. In my previous podcast edition on Covid-19, I had looked at the enduring effects of… Continue reading All Not Equal Before Covid-19: Owl Wisdom Podcast
How do you teach an old dog new tricks? By subjecting it to experiments, of course. Perhaps the best known experiment in behavioural science – and the oldest trick in the book - is the Pavlov experiment, now considered standard in generating conditioned responses. Nowadays, behavioural economics, behavioural insights, behavioural tech are all the rage.… Continue reading Much Ado About Behavioural Insights
As we cope with the world's worst pandemic, I would like you to join me in looking forward to a post-Covid world. In this Covid-19 special edition of Owl Wisdom Podcast, I try to anticipate our future after Covid and examine critical issues that the world must confront together to fight for healthier lives. It… Continue reading Covid-19 and The Big Reset: Owl Wisdom Podcast
As an advertising and brand communications professional from the days of adverts in column centimetres and VHS tapes and DVDs, I have to admit I am a little overwhelmed in the age of digital and social media communications. For starters, nothing communicates “excess” more to me. The age of the internet is supposed to have… Continue reading Building Brands in the Digital Age
I have never understood the recent trend (a decade or more) of subtitling book titles, and I suspect it’s the publishers’ tactic of trying to boost book sales. But in the case of William Dalrymple’s recent tome, The Anarchy, the subtitle actually does more justice to the subject: The East India Company, Corporate Violence and… Continue reading The Anarchy: A Cautionary Tale of Capitalism
Peripatetic Perch 