We go to war not because we ignore the costs, but because we know there are costs, but we are willing to pay those costs because we get something from the war which we wouldn't get otherwise.
— Christopher BlattmanChina will soon be the world's largest economy and is a state-capitalist nation meaning that the government controls the largest part of the economy. Unlike free markets, that means that finance is necessarily a critical tool of government. In China though, major corporations are a tool of government and so if we're moving to a world where China is going to be dominant economy, by definition finance will be their weapon.
There's a moment when the unconscious crystallises into consciousness, leading to all our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. In ancient texts, this moment is referred to as 'vedana', and we describe them as 'feeling tones.' These feeling tones are the mind's initial acknowledgment or categorisation of experiences as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.
Our mission is to expand the economic sphere of influence of humanity off the surface of the planet and into the solar system. Currently we have a vibrant economy in space that goes out to the geostationary belt- where the communication satellites are- and it stops.
There's a cliché that astronauts don't see borders- but we do. The India-Pakistan border is clearly visible from space, as is the North-South Korea border. You can see our politics playing out – you can see the glow of humanity thriving, and the absence of light where it doesn't. We need to figure out our politics – it really determines the quality of life for all.
If you look at the notional value of trading on our exchanges in any given year, they range from $600-700 trillion to a quadrillion dollars in total value. People can use these markets very effectively, not just for bona-fide risk hedging and transfer and risk management but also for asset allocation, portfolio management and trading strategies as well.
I often describe a Grand Slam as a marathon, not a sprint. It involves enduring extremely long matches, seven times over two weeks. In tennis, those who sprint don't make it to the finish line.
India is conservative on the outside, but becoming more liberal inside. A lot of my stories are about the double life that younger India has to lead…. The conflict between conservatism and liberal values.
Entrepreneurial businesses innovate, change, evolve and meet customer needs… it's about creating things that people value and love.
As founder(s) you cannot be scared of making tough decisions for the good of your business; the longer you let things lie, the tougher (and more expensive) it can be to resolve them.
I'm genuinely convinced that the upcoming decade will be the era of India as a product nation. This presents a tremendous opportunity for India, and you might wonder why now? Broadly, it's a confluence of a few factors. First, the global demand driven by digital transformation isn't limited to Fortune 500 companies. We're discussing the Fortune 5 million here – from a small-scale apparel retailer, a neighbourhood restaurant to a colossal multinational, they all need to adopt technology.
Part of the reason I'm arguing the time is right is because unlike back in the 60s when these ideas about complexity economics were first floated by people like Herbert Simon, we now have all the tools to do it. Computers are a billion times more powerful, the data is vastly better, our understanding of psychology is vastly better, we know a lot more about how to program models like this.
The artificiality and unsustainability comes in when loans are made to customers who cannot repay those loans, and without sufficient regulatory control.