We recall an article in the New York Times in late 2001 about US Special Forces trying to teach Baseball to Afghans. This was a part of Mr. Donald Rumsfeld’s campaign to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. This was a nice touch but probably not the ideal solution for that country. This…
One year ago, Jim Cramer went on a self-described “rant” against Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman, on CNBC. Just in case, you have not heard this “rant”, click on the YouTube clip below: I agreed with Cramer’s sentiments that day. He said what many of us wanted to say and he said it with…
Alan Greenspan, the Fed Chairman in 1994, was a completely different persona than Alan Greenspan, the Fed Chairman in 2004. Greenspan raised rates several times in 1994. He raised them unpredictably and in large increments. The financial markets, especially the bond markets, were totally unprepared for the decisiveness and the ferocity of the rate hikes….
A few days, a series of bombs exploded in Bangalore and the next day in Ahmadabad with a large number of casualties. Predictably, the Indian Government condemned the terrorists and promised firm action. We will look at this from 3 angles: What do the terrorists hope to achieve? The Strategic Will of the Indian Government…
Pandit-Raj Jagannath, the great Sanskrut Scholar (CE 1650- a contemporary of Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal), cautioned the flower “O flower, think not that the bhramar (bee) that circles around you constantly and makes sweet sounds to you is your friend. The gentle wind that carries your fragrance in all directions without any…
Our first comparison (New York Times vs. Washington Post) between these two well-regarded newspapers was published on June 28. While that post concluded with structural reasons for New York Times pulling ahead of the Washington Post, that comparison was triggered by an article each by Heather Timmons of the New York Times and Rama Lakshmi…
Bollywood and Hollywood are getting closer and closer. Snoop Dogg makes a guest appearance in a song in Akshay Kumar’s new film “Singh is Kingg”. A fusion of hip-hop and bhangra with a simple chorus (“Singh is Kinng, Singh is Kinng, Singh is Kinng”), the song features Snoop Dogg giving “what up to all the…
Bipasha Basu entered Bollywood with a bang in the 2001 hit “Ajnabee”, a Bolly-Holly interpretation of Consenting Adults (1992). Bipasha was nominated for three Bollywood awards including the Best Female Debut Award. Her club song “Mehbooba Mehbooba” with Akshay Kumar as a massive hit.Bipasha made her breakthrough to Bollywood Stardom in the 2003 dark romantic thriller “Jism” (“Body”). Bipasha played…
In our earlier article on CNBC (Watching CNBC – A Bollywood Rasik’s Perspective – July 12), we drew a humorous analogy between the rumored “Maria Bartiromo – Erin Burnett” rivalry on CNBC (discussed in the New York Times Business Section – see our July 12 article) and the rumored “Bipasha Basu – Katrina Kaif” rivalry in Bollywood….
Compare the following two statements: “It is undeniable that the combination of excessively low interest rates maintained for a protracted period of time, and a steady, multi-year decline in market-determined volatility, was the recipe that enabled Wall Street Firms to leverage their balance sheets to levels that were several standard deviations from historical norms. The deleveraging of…