Thursday 24 November 2011

Retail Therapy

While industry watchers and policy makers makers must be licking their fingers at learning the 51% approval being granted to FDI in multi-brand retailing, it is important to acknowledge the fine print of this business and the red herring. In the globalized and closely integrated economies of ours, this to happen was a given, sooner or later. I'm glad it happened later, as it has given ample exposure or localization expertise to our homegrown bulk retailers like Future Group, Reliance, Tatas, Bharti, Mahindra, et al. to cement their positions and can only grow stronger from here on. Govts. dragging their feet for years on policies like this, and faulted for being slow decision makers, or pandering to vested interests, eventually benefits the country and protects its interests hugely when seen in the overall context, certain groups or individuals benefiting greatly notwithstanding. And now that every one is being allowed in, wonder whats going on in the mind of those overseas retailers who must be gearing up with their India strategy. I'm sure getting a grip on prices, and milking the vast consuming class is the message their bosses would have sent out loud and clear. In an economic setup like ours, where the country is a net importer, despite the recent boom in IT, or manufacturing, textile businesses, the fact remains that we are dependent on some of the most essential commodities for sustainance from the rest of the world; that includes energy, fuel, food, and very soon nuclear supplies for power generation too.

So while we dig into other western economies snatching away their jobs, as a worthy cost effective destination for global businesses, it wouldn't be surprising to see those very economies making life difficult for us to enjoy that growth because of our high dependence on imports from them.

Something is expected to give way, either mellowing of rising salaries/GDP growth of our economy or a more supply constrained inflationary economics, where high premiums will be attached to key raw materials, commodities and all those essentials resulting in slowing of the Asian juggernaut.

Hope policy makers take a global view of all their decisions and not just a narrow domestic view, which perhaps worked fine in the years gone by; not any longer.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

RAOne Economics

Well the guy, SRK has made his money already, while you ppl try adding 2 and 2. :)
You all have to realize that the film was a first of a kind in Bollywood, with expensive animation, 3D visuals, and all thing high on technology that made it a heavy budget film. Commenting that the storyline was lousy, or that the dialogues were ineffective is all meaningless analysis. The Display Unit companies are preparing you for the next wave of content viewing, which is all-3D. Currently there is very less programming content in 3D, and so consumers will find it hard to graduate to 3D TVs from their current HD TVs or non-HD TVs. SRK need not worry about the success or failure of the movie content itself so far as he's well supported by the industry to push a certain product or concept into the market to increase mass appeal.
SRK, as a brand is going nowhere. It'll probably be faced with increasing competition with new artists, but he's reached the kind of dizzying heights that should keep his brand alive.

India Inc inspsiring govts to move from the humble "RATH" to "FORMULA 1"

Well...the F1 project is entirely a private enterprise, and we know what private enterprises are capable of, not just in terms of raising capital, creating successful businesses, but also the not so beautiful, such as evading taxes, swiss banking etc. Within the peripheries of the race circuit, which was officially the private space oh so beautiful, the outside, which was the motorway/expressway was so beautiful, again a pvtly developed space. A look at the public spaces, the administration and policing, well that tells you a different story.
Its all so well and easy to give away parcels of land to pvt enterprises at throw away prices to develop, and then entice the junta at market rates. The doubling and trebling of investments is just a means developed by the rogues to get you aligned with them capitalizing on your aspirations. No well meaning economics or great governance here.