H1 CY17: Do Beautiful Business

This letter got delayed as I was travelling a bit.

I chanced upon an impromptu meeting with Pabrai. He was very generous with his time and thoughts. Got to see very closely the way he thinks about investments - the underlying question every time while discussing investment ideas was - how much growth can be expected in 5 years and what are its components? 

This was followed up by discussion on finding solutions to create do-good societal institutions which can run sustainably, with minimal capital inputs. 

He mentioned about Dr V of Aarvind Eye Care - how the doctor created a sustainable charitable and super efficient eye care hospital at low costs. Read Infinite Vision.

We also discussed Dakshna's effort in giving free education, followed by 78-year-young and super energetic Col Ram Sharma of Dakshna travelling with me to study the education model of Baba Aya Singh college, near Amritsar and how it can be cloned. If you haven't seen documentary on college by Ravish of NDTV, please see here - link.

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The run of last few years should be taken with a pinch of salt - it was a good period in markets where everything has done well. The future will not be all butterflies and sunshine. 

Many sectors in economy are limping, as they should, due to change in technology/other reasons. Unemployment is going to be rule, rather than exception.  If we are not mentally preparing for such a environment, it may come as a shock. Mentally, this calls for disengaging from the game of chasing money beyond one's requirements, but understanding the capitalistic systems well and participating in it intelligently. And building local communities, neighborhood support groups, building local help/bartering/business groups around you. You may like to read - Beautiful Business. 

Do beautiful business. 

H2 CY16 - Demon - Narrative fallacy

Was demonetization good or bad, depends on which category a person belonged.
For organised capitalists, it was a god sent opportunity, as it's leading to consolidation n mkt opportunity. But for poor people, labourers, farmers,  SMEs, mSMEs, it was a devil's created mess.

Surely, GDP will go up and it will be hailed as masterstroke by paid media, but at the cost of heavy agony to the masses. In a country, where 60% population lives under $3 a day, this was a heartless n draconian.

The minds of the youth r seeded with insecurity.  There isn't any new hospitals, schools, social welfare projects that came up in last 2-3yrs, and the household savings - the  security of masses - has also been usurped away from poor, presumably to save SBI n its clients. Sadly, entire exercise hadn't yielded anything as the entire capital has come back to RBI. Next will be cyber hacks n misuse of Aadhaar. 

Someone did review of few years of history - last 5000 yrs - and the history doesn't make future look good. See this.

Placement
As capitalists, considering the economic earthquake, we r positioned well. Food, water, air n credit, all supplied by private sellers, r now the basic requirements of economically imbalanced society run by capitalists. Till it lasts this way.