Sunday, June 11, 2006
Economic & Political Weekly of India
A good resource for commentary on political and economic issues in India. Articles have an academic undertone.
Permalink, (0) comments
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Marwari Support System circa 19th Century
"India Unbound" by Gurcharan Das describes the support system that helped the Marwaris become extremely successful entrepreneurs in India 19th century onwards:
When a Marwari traveled on business, his wife and children were cared for in a joint family at home. Wherever he went in search of trade, he found shelter and good Rajasthani food in a basa, a sort of collective hostel run on a cooperative basis or as a philanthropy by local Marwari merchants. G.D. Birla's grandfather, Shiv Narain, settled in a basa when he first came to Bombay in the 1860s. When the Marwari needed money, he borrowed from another Marwari trader on the understanding that the loan was payable on demand, "even at midnight," and that he would reciprocate with a similar loan. At the end of the year, they tallied and settled the interest. He could count on community banks to insure his goods in transit and collect his dues when the goods arrived. His sons and nephews were apprenticed to other Marwari traders, where they earned their salary through profit sharing, learned business skills, and accumulated capital to start their own business when they were ready.
More on the basa or collective hostels:
At night, the young apprentices [staying at a collective hostel] would exchange stories of their commercial exploits of the day and draw lessons from them. Some of these stories became legendary. Passed on by word of mouth for generations, it was their version of Harvard Business School cases.
This support system reminds me of the various other successful, sometimes immigrant, entrepreneur groups: Chinese, South Koreans, Japanese and Silicon Valley.
Permalink, (0) comments
Sunday, June 04, 2006
CIA's World Fact Book
Good, up-to-date information on various countries here. Don't forget to check the facts and details on the world.
Permalink, (0) comments
Stock Exchange Market Capitalization Data
World Federation of Exchanges website has some useful information on global stock exchanges. The domestic market capitalization of various stock exchanges is presented in two places:
* "Time Series" - shows historic data at the end of each year
* "Monthly" - shows data at the end of each month
Permalink, (0) comments