World’s 85 Richest = 3.5 Billion Poorest
The poorest half of the world’s population—that’s 3.5 billion people—control as much wealth as the richest 85 individuals! Read Here – Businessweek
The Problem Of Juicing
Fueled by a huge surge in government “mini-stimulus” lending in the second half of the year, China’s GDP increased by a higher-than-expected 7.7% for 2013 (link in Chinese) according to the National Bureau of Statistics. That might sound like a good thing, but it’s not: essentially the government freaked out at the prospect of missing its 7.5% target, and overshot […]
How Far East Can India See?
Traditionally, India has concentrated more on Southeast Asian countries as the lynchpins of its quest to spread political influence and profit from the region’s economic dynamism. New Delhi’s relative neglect of the geographically more distant Northeast Asia, of which South Korea is a pivotal country, is gradually being redressed with a spectacular warming of ties […]
Right Instinct; Uncertain Times
Rahul Gandhi’s instinct is right: Without long-term reforms that rally Congress around something other than the figure of himself or his mother, Sonia Gandhi, the party is doomed. If he can’t somehow translate that mystique into victories now, though, there will be little left for him to reform. Read Here – Bloomberg
Good Year For A Great War?
Precisely a hundred years ago, the richest man in the world sent New Year’s greetings to a thousand of the most influential leaders in the U.S. and Europe announcing: mission accomplished. “International Peace,” he proclaimed, “is to prevail through the Great Powers agreeing to settle their disputes by International Law, the pen thus proving mightier […]
Worrying About Pakistan
Last year, Pakistan experienced a wave of leadership transitions. The country welcomed a new government, president, Supreme Court chief justice, and army chief. Yet one of the most troubling changes occurred on the very last day of 2013, and with little fanfare. On December 31, according to Pakistani media reports, Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai logged his […]
Backing Bangladesh
India is too strategically powerful and too close a neighbour to play a partisan role in favouring any political party over another in Bangladesh Read Here – The Hindu
The Long March By Motorcycle
In 1934, an estimated 86,000 soldiers in the Communist Red Army decamped from their Soviet-style base in Jiangxi province in an attempt to escape from Chiang Kai-shek and his encircling Nationalist Army. The desperate retreat, which Mao Zedong later ingeniously labeled the “Long March,” lasted four trying seasons and crossed 11 provinces. Read Here – […]
Will Modinomics Work?
Asia has grown inordinately fond of “-nomics,” slapping the suffix on grand-sounding growth programs in such places as Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and China. There’s one in India now – Modinomics. Read Here – Bloomberg
Indian Prime Minister Says No More…
See how it panned out: Whodunnit – Indian Express A Conference of Banquo’s 3 Ghosts – Asian Age Sting In The Tail – FirstPost Kindness Of History – The Telegraph, Kolkata
