American Periscope
Business riding on cultural events
CINCO DE MAYO is a minor event in Mexico that commemorates a Mexican victory over French invaders on May 5, 1862 in the Battle of Puebla. Citizens around the country stage enactments of the event and celebrate it in a solemn manner. Yet, in
the US, it is fast becoming a time for partying, with beer bashes and exchange of greeting cards and not just for Mexican-Americans. To understand how this comes about, one must first realise that when business and culture mix, a lot of money can b
e made.
Economy
BIS reviews global financial systems
BIS (The Bank of International Settlements), headquartered at Basel in Switzerland, is acknowledged to be the Central Bank of Central Banks. Its periodic review of the global financial situation is an eagerly awaited event of importance. The latest BIS q
uarterly review for the quarter ending March 2001 has just come out. Global investors expect a slowing world economy, and market attention has focussed on the slowing of the principal engine of growth, the US.
US market in the months ahead
ON MAY 15, the US Federal Reserve cut the Federal Funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.0 per cent, and fretted a good deal about the state of capital spending in the US. This reflected not only the collective concerns of the members of the Federal Open Mar
ket Committee but more particularly that of the chairman, Mr Alan Greenspan. Despite his occasional notes of caution, he had more or less sided with the proponents of the `New Economy' extolling the virtues of technology investment, `just-in-time' and re
al-time inventory management, and productivity gains. He had concluded, on many occasions, that these technology investments and productivity gains have extended the productive frontier of the economy and enabled actual growth to lie close to this enhanc
ed potential.
Editorial
Plans for a brew
THERE ARE CLEAR indications that the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and the already competitive market scenario have forced the Department of Commerce (DoC), in the Commerce and Industry Ministry and the Tea Board to impart professionalism in their Tenth P
lan (2002-03 to 2006-07) exercise on production and marketing strategies.
Miscellaneous
Sparks of hope
The market may boast of the latest electronic and electrical home appliances, it is the traditional, humble stove that is providing this young man a living.
Home office
SOHOS (small office home offices) are coming into their own in the US in a big way. With nearly 60 per cent of the households having PCs and Internet connection, it is now possible, with the help of intranet, local area networks, wireless applicati
on protocols and handhelds to transact business sitting at home, while driving or flying and on visits away from one's office. At a rapid pace in the US, and more slowly in other advanced countries, the concept of flexitime and telecommuting is gai
ning ground. The number of telecommuters in the US has risen from four million in 1990 to 23.6 million (or roughly one out of six workers) in 2000.
Policy
Right-sizing the bureaucracy -- It's back to the barracks
WHEN, a few months ago, India Today carried a lead article on Indian babudom, many observers expected some path-breaking decisions on the most powerful interest group in the country. The changes, it was hoped, would make the babus stay in their office ro
oms, in the required numbers, and do some real work. Away from the sunny spots out in the open, as the article's accompanying photographs amply demonstrated. However, as time passed and seasons changed, the babus have only shifted their bases from the su
nny spots to the shade of the sprawling lawns around the various Bhavans in Lutyen's Delhi.
Power
Dabhol project: Politics of power
IT ALWAYS looked as if the Maharashtra Government had a definite plan while renegotiating with Dabhol Power Company (read Enron). The plan perhaps was to get some cosmetic changes in tariff and give DPC large benefits such as sales tax exemption for naph
tha; reduction in interest rates of loans; and third party sales in the hope of getting the Centre to make NTPC and a few other Central utilities buy the costly power.
