If you read all my posts you will find that I am not such a big US hater, but yes they have got many things wrong. First of all I find the way of calculating GDP is so bad (all over the world including India) that it sucks. For example if there is a big […]

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There is no clarity about what happens to the Capital Gains under the Direct tax code. There is one school of thought that the status quo ante has been maintained. This means that short term cap gains will be at 10% and long term cap gains will be at 0% in case of equities and […]

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Despite some weak protests from the BJP the direct tax code in its full avataar has passed through the Rajya Sabha. Now it will go to a committee and then should pass muster at the Lower house also. It is one of the worst interruptors of the whole process of compounding – taxing the capital […]

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There is a huge real estate mafia which holds prices unrealistically high in Mumbai. I have no grievances – but it is mispricing all the services available in Mumbai. A trust which owns a school in Santacruz, Khar, Ghatkopar or Chembur (just 4 suburbs) can charge whatever fee it wants. Does it mean the teachers […]

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The US gives us a feeling of being rich. It reminds me of what Sharad Pawar once said about the Congress (he had just quit Congress about a month ago). S P said “Congress is like the Indian zamindar (landlord)…the zamin(land) is gone, but the zamindari (landlord like behavior) is still there”. Exactly the same […]

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USA is a rich, big, innovative country which does not get into any financial mess. This is what we were taught in school. Obviously things have changed. What is the implication of Greece problem for the US? 1. Well first of all the Euro is getting weaker. This looks like good news, but it means […]

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Bankers in Europe did not behave like this when they were paid moderate salaries. By the time they were in their 50s and could retire they still had to worry about their partnership in the bank to be sold. Indian, Japanese and some other East Asian bankers are not in the same set as the […]

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