Uncle Scrooge's Economics

Naval Ravikant has built a loyal fan base by sharing classic wisdom with a mix of science and rationality. It is very unlikely to hear an investor talk about everything but markets. Naval is not just famous for his investment advice; he also calls himself a modern-day philosopher and has shared tremendous amounts of wisdom through his Twitter storm and through interviews. The tweetstorm that he did back in 2018 on getting rich without getting lucky  attracted a lot of attention. As of March 2023, Naval Ravikant had a staggering net worth of $70 million. As a kid who faced food issues, for him to be one of the wealthiest Americans has got to be one hell of a journey. Uber, Twitter, Postmates, Open DNS, and the list goes on. These super companies are investments made by Naval at a time when no one had heard about them. More than his investment lessons, Naval is famous for his life lessons. In one of his tweets, he mentioned that happiness is a skill. It is the sense that nothing is ...

Since the beginning of 2023, various organizations, bankers, businessmen, and central banks have been sharing their opinions about India 2040. Some of them went the extra mile and said things like, "India would become the world's largest economy in the next 10 years". As an Indian, I get an adrenaline rush when I hear things like that, but as an investor, I need to separate facts from opinions. For an economy to become the world's largest, you need to experience tremendous amounts of growth in various sectors of the economy.  I believe the best way to judge an economy is through economic indicators, and that's what I am going to do. Being a rational guy, no other thing than numbers can satisfy my doubts. That's why I am going to talk about a few economic indicators, and based on those indicators, you all decide what's realistic and what isn't. I would love to hear your side of the story in the comments below. So, without further ado, let's get thos...

One of the most insightful books ever written on the markets was Mastering the market cycles. It was bound to be insightful because it was written by none other than Mr. Howard Marks. One of the truisms of markets is that "what goes up must come down'. Over a period of time, these movements become part of a larger pattern and are often identified as cycles.  In his book, Haward Marks clearly articulates why being attentive to cycles is one of the most important things for an investor. Even though the concept of macroeconomics is usually ignored when valuing a company, having an understanding of it helps evaluate a company better. Mark believes that while cycles may arise from external events, they are more inclined to be influenced by the ups and downs of human psychology and the results of human behavior. Writing in a clear, lucid, and engaging manner, the book provides invaluable insights into the concepts of market cycles, their occurrence, and how an investor can profit f...

Every time someone asks me what kind of genre I like reading or watching, I always say, "Rags to Riches". At least some of the people who know me are fed up with this answer and have stopped asking me this question. What they don't understand is that reading the rags to riches story gives me hope—a hope that I might be one of them. These stories aren't scripted with ink; rather, they are scripted with blood, sweat, tears, long nights, hard work, passion, sacrifices, and mistakes. It's a combination of these unseen activities that corresponds to what we call "overnight success". Raamdeo Agrawal is the protagonist of one such story. Born in 1957 into a small middle-class family in a village, Raamdeo always had the urge to earn money. The only thing that he wasn't sure about was how he was going to make money. Thinking about making billions sounds great, but practically scripting the idea and following the path takes a lot of courage and patience. And M...

It only takes one person to break the stereotypes and come out of a trap. The unexpectedness of that person forces you to think and connect the dots that have been lying around for a long time. That one person can literally break or make you. It can be anyone. It can be an old friend with whom you lost touch, that teacher who said something that you never thought of, a random date that inspired you, or that random guy you met while traveling and never saw again. For me, that one person was none other than Mr. Warren Buffett. It's really hard for me to put into words how drastically this man has changed my life. It's not a typical rags to riches story, but it's nothing less than that. I always marvel at how someone sitting thousands of kilometers away can help someone drastically change their life without even knowing who the person is that he is helping. I guess we will never know.  I have been a disciple of Mr. Buffet for the last 4 years and have collected his words of wi...