When the going gets tough

....the tough gets going. This is a reference to the one and only VVS! No description needed. Here, here, here, here, here and here are some good articles! Enjoy!

And here's another a very good one as well

"As far as cricket is concerned Laxman is a warrior by instinct and a man of peace by manner. The conflict has made his career fascinating and frustrating. His genius is peculiar and requires the most particular conditions. His greatness lies in the fact that those conditions are the toughest not the easiest. He is an artist whose strength lies not in his artistry but in his competitive spirit. "

Why humanities matter?

Here's a good defense on why Humanities matter.

"Over the past century or so, people have built various systems to help them understand human behavior: economics, political science, game theory and evolutionary psychology. These systems are useful in many circumstances. But none completely explain behavior because deep down people have passions and drives that don’t lend themselves to systemic modeling. They have yearnings and fears that reside in an inner beast you could call The Big Shaggy."

I think every parent in India should read this and form an opinion on this topic pushing their wards into the throes of technical education!

William & Warren, Inc @ Columbia

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet talk to the Columbia Business School students. Here's the CNBC link.

Articles on AIG

Here, here and here are a series of excellent articles that appeared in the Washington Post late last December.

The story spans about 15 pages and is divided into three parts. It traces the evolution of the current crisis starting from 1987 when AIG-Financial Products was founded. While I found some of the technical details a little hard to follow, it was an absolutely fascinating read!

Here's a Charlie Rose interview with a pretty good panel on the same topic. I liked the tone and demeanor of Hank Greenberg, the ex-CEO of AIG. I also think that Meredith Whitney was a rambling a bit off topic, especially toward the end!

Populism

Here's a very nice article that appeared in The Economist on populist rage AIG bonuses.

"Was the fuss over AIG a sign of a new populist mood in America? Or was it just a storm in a teacup? It is hard to answer this question in a country in which anger is a form of entertainment and where the political parties have turned partisanship into a fine art. Television personalities such as Bill O’Reilly are always angry about something or other. Many of the politicians who proclaimed their outrage at the “malefactors of great wealth” are delighted to take campaign contributions from the very same malefactors"

Ten trillion and counting

Here's a Frontline documentary on the mounting US national debt.

As is the case with all Frontline documentaries, very well researched but slightly dramatized

An interesting parallel

Here's an interesting and a scary parallel to the current economic crisis. Hopefully things wont be anywhere as bad as this one!

I seriously doubt it unless, ofcourse, someone says, "What if they got laid off, don't they get bonuses?" Now, that might get the aruvaal out, as they say in my parts.

"The next year, Jacques Necker, a foreigner, was appointed Director-General of Finance. Necker realized that the country's tax system subjected some to an unfair burden; numerous exemptions existed for the nobility and clergy. He argued that the country could not be taxed higher, that the nobles and clergy should not be exempt from taxes, and proposed that borrowing would solve the country's fiscal problems. Necker published a report to support this claim that underestimated the deficit by roughly 36,000 livres; and proposed restricting the spending power of the parlements. This was not received well by King's ministers and Necker, hoping to solidify his position, argued to be accepted as a minister. The King refused, Necker was fired, and Charles Alexandre de Calonne was appointed to the Directorship.

Calonne initially spent liberally, but he quickly realized the critical financial situation and put forth a new tax code. The proposal included a consistent land tax, which would include taxation of the nobility and clergy...."

An emotional goodbye email

Here's an emotional resignation letter from a Executive VP at AIG

"As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house."

I was a initially little uncomfortable with caps on bonuses and compensation for the same reason. We may be punishing the wrong people! Are the US lawmakers now hyper-extending the guilt-by-association argument? Are there ethical and moral issues in not honoring employment contracts?

Obama on Leno

Check it out here, here and here...

"Being President is like being on American Idol, except that everybody is Simon Cowell"

"Smart kids coming out of school, instead of wanting to be an investment banker, we need to them to decide that they want to be an engineer, they want to be a scientist, they want to be a doctor and teacher...."

The Obamas were supposed to get a dog for their daughters when they moved into the White house.

"Leno: When is the dog coming? I keep hearing about the dog. When was it supposed be there by? I thought it was as soon as you moved in (to the White House)"
Obama: Well....listen, this is Washington and that was a campaign promise......."

Nandan Nilekani on the Daily Show

Here's Nandan Nilekani on the Daily Show.

There's a major cultural dissonance in this interview! Nandan was super uncomfortable and Jon was close to filibustering!

Here's a review of his book, Imagining India, by The Economist.

I'm currently reading it. The book is very informative. Perhaps, it could have easily been a li'l shorter for the same message!

Pak Passion

Here's an interesting thread on a popular Pak website. It was on the day of the SL attack

Retraining the business school

Here's an interesting article on businesscu school education

Jimmy Joned..!

Here, here and here are the videos where Jon Stewart toasts Jim Cramer.

Now, I'm not a fan of CNBC, am a big fan of Jon Stewart and am of the opinion that Jim Cramer is generally an idiot. But isn't Jon Stewart doing the exact same thing now that he accuses Jim Cramer of doing, which is pandering to his audience to boost his own GRPs?

He essentially accuses Jim Cramer and the CNBC network of incompetence or even unethical journalism. But when asked about his own journalistic credence he hides under the fact that he just a comedian and runs an unfair and a mostly meaningless show! But I don't find that explanation entirely credible. If we are talking about Drew Carey's 'Who's line is it anyway?', I'll agree. It is mostly meaningless and mostly funny. But Jon Stewart dabbles in mainstream politics and finance, has the most influential policy-makers on this show and is a hero of the liberal pseduo-intelligensia! With his type of content, audience reach and policy-maker access, it is quite irresponsible to claim that he just farting around yet at the same play the role of a self-appointed news media regulator.

If Jon Stewart is serious on holding people accountable, he has to cover why the rating agencies gave a AAA rating to subprime bonds, the drastic change in the situation before and after Lehman was allowed to fail, the reasons why Federal Reserve kept the rate too low for too long, the impact globalization had on masking this crisis and why Joe the plumber decided to buy a frekking townhouse when was he only employed part-time. But, that ofcourse, is serious journalism and Jonny aint doing just that. He is no different from a bully picking on people when they are vulnerable.

I just think Jon Stewart is playing as much to the gallery as Jim Cramer was doing for the best part of this decade. The only difference is that Stewart is funny, Cramer was painful!

Satyam Scandal

Here's a pretty comprehensive article that appeared on Knowledge@Wharton on Satyam

Responsibility as the best response?

Here's an article by Ramesh Ramanathan that appeared on Livemint
"We ask for a tough state, when we ourselves are a soft people. I mean it in the harshest sense: Most of us are selfish, inward-looking cowards who quaver at the slightest hint of risk to ourselves or our family."

Valid but uncomfortable questions...

Here's an editorial in the New York times.
"How can their government have ignored the warning signs? A 2007 report to Parliament warned that the country’s shores were poorly protected — and some or all of the attackers arrived by boat. Why weren’t the police and the army better prepared to respond? Sharpshooters outside the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel did not have telescopic sights, so they could not get off a shot for fear of killing hostages rather than the terrorists."

Here's an article that appeared in the WSJ on this topic
"The country's antiterrorism effort is reactive and episodic rather than proactive and sustained. Its public discourse on Islam oscillates between crude, anti-Muslim bigotry and mindless sympathy for largely unjustified Muslim grievance-mongering. Its failure to either charm or cow its Islamist-friendly neighbors -- Pakistan and Bangladesh -- reveals a limited grasp of statecraft.

Nonetheless, the reflexive Indian response to most every act of terrorism is to apportion blame rather than to seek a solution that will prevent, or at least minimize, its recurrence."

Here's an interesting article on LeT by Steve Coll of the New Yorker
"I was at a conference this morning where another panelist well-versed in these issues said he would not be surprised if it turned out that Lashkar conceived the Mumbai attacks as a way to pull Pakistani Army units and attention away from the Afghan border and into defense positions in the east, to protect the country from the possibility of military retaliation by India. In any event, if the evidence does show that uncontrolled Lashkar elements carried out the attacks, it would force India’s government to judge how to calibrate policy toward a civilian-led Pakistan government and Army command that may have little control over the very same Islamist groups that it purposefully built up and supported just a few years ago."

Perhaps, it is time to look inwards, acknowledge flaws and start developing capabilities that enhance our national security instead blaming a bad neighborhood, which grapples with its own incompetence!

Anatomy of the Meltdown

Here's an very nice New Yorker article that talks about Ben Bernanke and the financial meltdown.

And here and here are some excellent articles that gives an overview of the financial crisis. I found the links to these ariticles in Greg Mankiw's blog

Indecision 2008

The US Presidential elections are in two days. It has been a very interesting campaign for the last several months. I have been following it a little too keenly and people who know me also know that I am a strong supporter of Barack Obama - not that it matters for I don't have right to vote.

However, even as I support him, I do acknowledge, there are inherent risks in voting for Obama. It is not as much as he is an unknown entity as it is about the highly probable gulf that exists between what he believes and what he can actually do. We have seen him give thoughtful answers to complex problems but will the lack of his executive experience affect his ability to execute them? He has shown the ability to attract some exceptionally talented people around him, but will their opinion matter in a possible liberal era of a democrat congress and democrat senate? These are legitimate concerns, but no one, including Obama, can really answer these questions convincingly.

While the way he carried himself through a grueling twenty month campaign under intense scrutiny does assuage some concerns, I do believe that the possible Obama administration is likely to have surprises that not all people will like!

And here's a very nice editorial from The Economist on this topic.

Great Articles

Here's an article about Obama by a noted conservative commentator, David Brooks.
"There has never been a moment when, at least in public, he seems gripped by inner turmoil. It’s not willpower or self-discipline he shows as much as an organized unconscious. Through some deep, bottom-up process, he has developed strategies for equanimity, and now he’s become a homeostasis machine"

And here's an article by Suresh Menon on Tendulkar after his test record.
"As remarkable as his record is his self-possession. His head hasn't changed size, his boots haven't grown smaller. He alone knows what it means to be Tendulkar, with its frustrations, its sacrifices, and the need to be Tendulkar at all times. He is a one-man university that teaches sportsmen how to handle money, fame and pressure."