The pandemic has changed the way people see the government. It has eroded trust in the administration's ability to tackle a crisis, any crisis, observes Devangshu Datta.
The costs of providing free vaccines are way lower than the costs of a freewheeling epidemic.
Given the costs, you would need to be a high-value target for a government agency to spend this sort of money, points out Devangshu Datta.
Given the dimensions, it is bound to have at least ripple effects across markets. Could ripple turn into cascade? asks Devangshu Datta.
The emperor's appetite for enlarging his realm translated into a fetish for raising taxes, despite the simplicity of his personal lifestyle, points out Devangshu Datta.
What engineering problems make it hard to use 17th century physics to move lots of people quickly across serious distances? Devangshu Datta has the answers.
'It is no accident that politicians strive to control sports bodies, and get their names associated with popular sports, sometimes by renaming stadiums after themselves,' observes Devangshu Datta.
Shoppers Stop is looking to open four new stores this year and plans to invest Rs 120 crore.
'This way, you'll maintain our glorious traditional values and get more efficient governance as well.'
Here are seven jargons you may often come across when discussing the Covid-19 pandemic that Devangshu Datta makes sense of.
The US is a wonderful example of how a political party with minority support can cling to power for decade, notes Devangshu Datta.
Science is a young person's game. An award to a young scientist could free up that person to do productive work, or help win more grants by enhancing reputation, argues Devangshu Datta.
'Given all the linkages, the monthly registration data for new vehicles, may well be the single most accurate indicator of India's economic health,' points out Devangshu Datta.
Welcome to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) - digital constructs authenticated using an abstract mathematical application. An NFT is a unique token added to some digital construct and registered on a blockchain with details of ownership. The construct itself might be free (it often is) but the NFT along with the construct is worth "more". The NFT market didn't exist until 2017 when "cryptokitties", or virtual cats, became available with NFTs. The market is now worth around $350 million. Speculators believe it is likely to be worth much more in future.
Construction companies will make money building detention centres. Information technology companies will make money on the enumeration of the CAA, NRC and NPR, notes Devangshu Datta.
When it comes to Mr Portnoy, it is hard to claim that his trading patterns are any more logical than his fictional namesake's methods of entertaining himself, notes Devangshu Datta.
Continue to invest normally unless prices fall drastically in April-May. If prices do fall drastically, invest more than normal, advises Devangshu Datta.
The hack may have been done by a rogue Twitter employee, or it may have been a smart hack into the Twitter system, or a social hack where someone conned Twitter's employees into giving them access,' suspects Devangshu Datta.
The IT industry advisories show that they think they've weathered the worst, observes Devangshu Datta.
'This is the first time there has been an attempt to use market forces to counter disinformation on social media,' notes Devangshu Datta.
For one, triangles are involved.
'In India, there's currently evidence the Centre has not managed a smooth vaccine rollout.' 'It is now falling back on blaming states, which are facing vaccine shortages,' points out Devangshu Datta.
Devangshu Datta walks you into the mind of the winner of the Fields Medal, considered by pure mathematicians as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
'The steady poverty reduction achieved over the last three decades could be largely reversed in this one financial year with hundreds of millions sliding below the red line,' warns Devangshu Datta.
The Indian stock market had rallied through the first fortnight of October but it gave back the bulk of its gains in the second half.
US election results may not reverse Indian markets' bearish trend, says Devangshu Datta
'You cannot win an election without putting together a massive war chest.' 'It is impossible to put a war chest together, without giving and taking favours from India Inc, with a large dose of extortion thrown in,' says Devangshu Datta.
Investors should look at actively managed funds, says Devangshu Datta.
'A rag-tag coalition is more insecure and hence, more inclined to reform,' argues Devangshu Datta.
Apart from SIPS and STPS, value- averaging can help investors make more money, says Devangshu Datta.
Guesstimates suggest that around 80 to 85 per cent of Wiki information is accurate. That is less than 95 per cent that is considered the gold standard for 'normal' encyclopedias'. But 80 per cent is a reasonable baseline for somebody who's starting to research a topic and it does suggest that crowd-sourcing works, even though it is a long way from perfection, says Devangshu Datta.
Long-term investors should consider moving into smaller stocks. Rather than try to pick stocks, it makes sense to build a diversified portfolio by exposure across midcap and small caps funds, suggests Devangshu Datta.
'And don't underestimate the enabling power of bribery.' 'Hark back to demonetisation.' 'All of the cash did come back.' 'The same thing will happen with the alphabet soup of the NRC, NPR and CAA except that this exercise will deal in documents, not cash.' 'Bribes will be paid.' 'Documents will be magically generated,' points out Devangshu Datta.
'The Indian economy is in slowdown and growth may stay slow,' notes Devangshu Datta.
Computers need to be trained to recognise images, says Devangshu Datta.
The dollar-rupee rate could move in the opposite direction if dollar policy rates rise and the FPIs sell in December, says Devangshu Datta.
Stop-losses are mandatory to prevent losses going out of control
'Every Indian citizen is already exposed to massive digital surveillance and most are already vulnerable to data theft and cyber-impersonation as well,' points out Devangshu Datta.
Assume that the rupee will trend lower over the next 10 years as India increases overseas sovereign exposures, and your long-term asset allocation should be geared to deal with this trend, suggests Devangshu Datta
Gold, forex assets, IT sector, pharma. Devangshu Datta explains why each of these is a good hedge against market shocks at this time.
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