It was too good to be true. China’s economic growth powered by its exports sector delivered annual rates of real growth between 10% and 14% for years together in the 1980s and 1990s. Something the world watched with awe and admiration, as the Middle Kingdom surged to become the world’s second largest economy in GDP… Continue reading Are the Chickens of China’s State Capitalism Coming Home to Roost?
What a remarkable turn of events in the Middle East this past week. From constant shelling and the killing of innocent civilians – many even as they lined up for food – to the cessation of hostilities and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. So far, so good. At least as far as… Continue reading A Peace Plan That Leaves the Palestinian State for The End
It was long overdue. In fact, GST should have been launched in 2017 with no more than a couple of slabs. Ideally, it should have been just one at 18%. But in a country like ours where most of the population can barely afford even the daily essentials, perhaps a rate of 5% on some… Continue reading How Car Companies Should Make the Most of GST Rationalisation
The Indian economy is growing at a reasonably rapid pace, though nowhere near the 8%-9% growth recorded in the early and mid-2000s. Still, considering the two huge shocks the world economy has faced in the past two decades – the 2008 Financial Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic – we have to say that India has… Continue reading It is Time to Build Brand India
The IMD has announced the withdrawal or retreat of the South-west Monsoon for this year, and I thought I'd share a small and quick video I made to bid it goodbye. These are video images of the swaying palms next-door to our flat and the sea at Bogmalo Beach, which is not too far from… Continue reading Farewell to the Monsoon in Goa 2025
In an earlier blog post on media brands, I had written that BBC’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza was found wanting, and that I was particularly disappointed because I happen to be a regular BBC World News viewer and because I had done some advertising work for BBC when they were launching India-specific programmes… Continue reading How the BBC Can Become More Competitive
I was reading a book by VS Naipaul after a really long time, when my aged father presented me with The Enigma of Arrival for my birthday last month. I was looking forward to reading it, since I hadn’t read this particular book before. Of course, I had the nagging doubt that unprofessional PR agency… Continue reading The Enigma of Arrival, a Departure from My Reading of Naipaul
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
More than half of 2025 is over and we’re almost about to enter the last quarter of the calendar year. It’s time to assess which way the global economy is headed because the last time I wrote about it, it was just after the IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in the US in… Continue reading Which Way Go-eth The Global Economy?
As if the world doesn’t have enough geopolitical tensions and trade wars to contend with, we have peacemaking efforts in the two wars raging that are threatening to only escalate tensions between the warring parties. And India finds itself in the crosshairs of the conflict in Ukraine, because we’re buying Russian oil and defence equipment.… Continue reading Of Wars and Bombed Peacemaking Efforts
Peripatetic Perch 