Author name: sanjeev

Everybody remembers Lee Iacocca, even though few will remember his companies a decade from now. But who can tell me the current Chairman of Toyota/ Honda without googling the Net? Disclaimer: This article was written originally in March 2006. Brash, loud, attention-grabbing, fast-talking, Iaccocca was the quintessential, egotistical ‘ugly’ American. Coincidentally, his company was bankrupt, …

A Tale Of Two Countries: The Importance Of A Differentiating National Character Read More »

Disclaimer: This article was written originally in November 2005 One of my favorite economists, whom I have been tracking for the last 10 years, has a habit of making “big calls” at the end of any steep downturn. He sees a ‘peak bull’ market as a natural culmination of factors that come into play during …

The Next Big Thing :The Evolution Of The Carbon Economy Read More »

It is increasingly becoming a received wisdom to talk about democracy as the final, superior way of life.  Most political scientists would have you believe that we have experienced all the other possible variants, i.e. from Fascism to Totalitarianism and Communism.   After the fall of the Berlin Wall, there seems to be a growing consensus …

The Problems With Democratic Choice: Appealing To Our Baser Instincts Read More »

Disclaimer: This article was written originally in July 2005. Some time back, I had this discussion with a gentleman who heads one of India’s premier Industry Associations in manufacturing and is a frequent visitor to that most revered of rivals, China. He remarked that ‘they’ were clearly ahead of us, with a long-term Vision and …

Order Vs Chaos: When The Omelette Is  (Occasionally) Better Than The Egg Read More »

Alan Greenspan is reputed to have used these words in 1995 when the Dow was around 7500.  Robert Shiller made this phrase famous with his seminal book on the ongoing subsequent irrationality.  Mr. Chidambaram recently said (in hushed tones) words to the same effect and at the same Sensex value.  + I mention this because …

“Irrational Exuberance”: Those Words Again Read More »

The population of the world is divided along many dimensions. There are physical dimensions, like fat people/ thin people, brown/ white people, etc. Then there is the psychographics, ie some like it hot and some like it cold, etc. Among the many other dimensions, one of the most important is the “behavioral dimension”, ie, the …

The Road Less Travelled: How Not To Think Like Others (Contrarian Thinking) Read More »

China’s new Totalitarian Model proved Francis Fukuyama wrong. Fukuyama wrote ‘The End of History’ in 1992, shortly after the perceived ending of the Cold War, which was considered the last Clash of Civilisations (Communism vs Western Democracy). That was around the year that China was coming into its own. At the same time as Fukuyama …

The End Of Money: When God Decides To Prick Your Balloon Read More »