08.05.2009

Politics & the Nation

• The flowering of Gujarat
  
• For the last couple of decades, Gujarat is a State that is seen as 'unbeatable' in so far as industrialization is concerned.  But now it appears to have overtaken all other States even in agriculture; helped in no small measure by the Sardar Sarovar Project.
  
• Read this ET editorial; you will appreciate the policy measures that click.

Finance & Economy

• On the demise of the dollar
• We have noted about this issue for quite long in this blog.  We have taken a view that the demise of the dollar is imminent and will happen in course of time; may be a year or may be a few years.  By demise, what we meant was the stoppage of its being treated as an international currency of reserve.
• Our bets apart, as students of international finance, we need to study other view points also.  Let's take a look at Manoj Pant's take on the subject.  Read it in full here.  
• But the gist of his argument is that the dollar's status is determined more by the fact that the US subcontinent has been the world's production factory.  And that unless a shift of that production happens to somewhere else and an equal measure of political stability is exhibited by another country, the dollar's status will remain unscathed.  For this, he gleans the GDP figures and arrives at the conclusion that the dollar's status will remain as it is; at least for a long time to come.
• Our point is that a currency's status cannot continue based on a situation which was faced by the world more than six decades ago (World War II).  The tumultuous changes that are going to be witnessed in the course of the world's grappling with the aftermath of the current global financial crisis will force the world countries to look for alternatives.  But what exactly would trigger this demise remains anybody's guess.  The trigger could come from anywhere.  Be it Iran which has been gunning for oil price quotes to be shifted away from the US dollar, be it China which is capable of bringing the US treasury to a screeching halt by its massive US t-bill investments, or even the BRIC countries which may see their stock rising with each passing year till 2030.
• Indin-origin CEOs win laurels; so, celbration time
  
• Pepsi’s Ms Indra Nooyi, Cognizant Technologies’ Mr Francisco D’Souza and Hartford Financial’s Mr Ramani Ayer feature in the list of CEOs who stand out “for being forthright and transparent with shareholders and smart with their companies’ balance sheets”. They also earn high praise for keeping their companies on course.
  
• This accolade is from the Institutional Investor magazine. 
  
• Results of US stress tests on some of its banks
• Take a look at the results here.

Ad world

• About Zoozoo
• We are sure, you have noticed the Vodafone ads that are aired during IPL matches.  Very funny, likeable and notable characters are the mainstay of the ads.
• Want to know who created them?  It's firm called Nirvana.  Interesting to read about them.  Do so here.  Incidentally they also were the creators of the Hutch pug campaigns.
• They can surely look for more abbys coming their way in course of time.

Language lessons

• platitudinous: Adjective
• Dull and tiresome but with pretensions of significance or originality
  
• eg: So, discounts on groceries, readymade clothes and couture, in lieu of a blob of ink on the forefinger, are a far more compelling lure to vote than platitudinous political promises.