Written on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 by Rohan Koshy
The recent financial turmoil that has caught the world's attention has brought with it a big debate about the death of capitalism. With the U.S and U.K taking major equity stakes in a majority of banks many have questioned whether this signals the end of laissez-faire capitalism. The reluctance of Henry paulson and George Bush to nationalise the banks was because they believed in the idea of "free markets" as it were. It is generally accepted that the government cannot regulate markets any better than the market participants (acting in their own self interest). Alan Greenspan, who is a big believer in free markets (having spent time with Ayn Rand) admitted that he had misjudged the potentially disastrous situation that would occur if the markets were left unregulated.
While I've read Ayn rand's books and certainly subscribe to part of her philosophy, i feel that the no holds barred laissez faire capitalism that she has supported would never really work.Working in your own self interest may certainly be the best thing for everybody but it leaves out one thing. Integrity. Self interest is totally skewed when integrity is taken out of it. When you're self interest is to make money no matter how much somebody else may lose then its not in everybody's self interest. It's also known by another word.Greed. Unfortunately that's what became of wall street at the end of 2007.
If i put a revolver containing only one bullet to your head and say ," If you pull the trigger I'll give you a million dollars" would you do it? While 80% of the time you'll get 1 million dollars you know that when you get it wrong, you'll get a funeral. Unfortunately it's not that easy in the real world. When a bank is leveraged 30 to 1, its pretty easy to see the bullet in the chamber but there are many reasons that could be given as to why this may be your lucky day. The biggest one being record company profits, which is what the banks were making. It's pretty hard to argue against record corporate profits. But eventually they got the silver bullet.
One more reason i believe that markets without regulation wouldn't work is perception. Greed is not the only reason for the fiasco. Usually humans first perceive a problem , then decide best course and then finally take action. I believe that there definitely is now a problem of perception. You may not act in your own "best" interests because you may not be able to perceive the risks. Most of the industry couldn't perceive the risk and so we chartered into incredibly risky waters. We couldn't see the storm so we couldn't take action. Credit default swaps(CDS) are supposed to insure you against the risk of default by a company. INSURE. Sound's safe doesnt it?Unfortunately it isn't. You may not be able to perceive the risk that comes with a $62 trillion UNSUPERVISED market. Too many counterparties chasing the same thing. Sometimes we need to be protected from ourselves and i suppose that's what we'll see now.
So does it mean the end of capitalism as in the old days? Yes. But risk tasking is a requisite for progress.Just because countries go to war does not mean democracy has failed. In the financial markets, getting 7% return instead of 6% is not worth it if getting that 7% could also mean biting the bullet.I suspect we haven't seen the end of it but a much more risk averse culture will rise from these ashes and capitalism will continue to create fantastic progress. That is, if we don't manage to break the banks in the process.
Written on Sunday, August 03, 2008 by Rohan Koshy
It's been so long since i wrote a proper post. A lot has happened since then. I've given a major exam and done well in it. Given myself a chance for something good.There have been few things to write about over the past few months but recently i watched a movie which made me want to write again.
First a disclaimer. I love Batman. I always have and i always will. Throughout it's 80 year history it has been one superb comic book franchise. Ever since I've read it as a kid I've loved it. Though i haven't really read all the episodes i hope that someday I'll cover them all. When i first watched memento i really loved it. When i came to know that the director of memento, Christopher Nolan would helm the effort to reboot the batman franchise i was thrilled. I saw Batman Begins and i was truly satisfied. It was dark and realistic and focused solely on the basics that make the batman comic series so gritty and enjoyable. I've waited 3 years for the dark knight to release and have followed the brilliant viral marketing campaign since it came out. So when i read the reviews for the movie my expectations became sky high.Overwhelmingly positive reviews have fuelled my expectations. And then i saw it.
It is brilliant. I don't want to go into a state of hyperbole but the movie really is awesome. Having taken care of the origins of batman, Nolan dives straight into the plot from the start. The movie is relentless in that there's way too much going on the figure it all out in one sitting. The actions scenes are great with you really feeling it's intensity. The plot is good and the pacing is spot on. Even at two and a half hours long you feel like they've actually left something out just to fit the movie into that much time. Christian Bale is the definitive batman. He plays it with an intensity that the caped crusader has not had before.
The movie undoubtedly belongs to one man. The Joker. The iconic clown prince of crime could not have got a better on screen portrayal than the one the late heath ledger has given him. He's scary, insane and brilliant.The movie starts with batman getting the upper hand over criminals but from the second the joker shows up you really feel like things are out of control. For the first time in a long time I've felt like the villain could win. That even he loses he gonna cause so much damage going down that the hero never wins. The joker is incredibly dark but not brooding. With some incredible lines. "Wanna see a magic trick?" , he really forces you to pay attention. The performance is riveting.
Harvey Dent's character is the emotional meat of the story. The joker doesn't give an emotional arc to the film. Harvey dent and his tragic story arc tie together the emotional backbone of the movie.
The end is awesome. Almost all the batman comics end with the hero in a worse place than when he started. The movie stays true to that.
All in all, its an unforgettable movie.
Don't worry about a thing my friend.
Why so serious?
Let's put a smile on that face :)
Written on Saturday, June 21, 2008 by Rohan Koshy
Personally i like this album, quite a bit. Coldplay, while changing their signature style, have maintained some of the stadium rock that has made them famous, and enjoyable to listen to.
Posted in
Coldplay
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Written on Saturday, June 21, 2008 by Rohan Koshy
Posted in
Champions,
Manu
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Written on Sunday, February 03, 2008 by Rohan Koshy
Recently i was sitting with a close friend of mine and we were wondering at how funny and ironic it was that we were 800 km away from home and we're sitting and doing the same thing we usually do when we're home. We realised that we were enjoying ourselves much the same as we do when we're home
I don't know who said it but it's true - "Human beings can adapt to almost any situation that presents itself'. Looking at me and my friend enjoying ourselves and pondering on the current paths most of my friends are taking i realized that it's totally true. We used to wonder how we'll ever survive out there once we got out of college but the fact is that once you get into a position you just find a way to make it work.With all my friends it's all the same. Getting out of college we've all been put into situations where we've gone away from home and challenged our beliefs, accepted new cultures and types of people and watched each other adapt to it all.There's no other way.
Until we got out of college your basic goal was to score as high as you can in the next exam and try to do it with as little studying as you could but once we've gotten outta college we've all been put into different places and worked with people different to us. A friend once told me that she was really worried about staying away from home as she had never done it before. I told her not to worry, that whatever challenges she faced she would find a way to survive. She asked me how i knew that for sure and i said that when you HAVE to find a way, you will find one and she has and is having fun chasing her dream.
Human beings adapt, or they shrivel and die. Thats the fact and most people really don't appreciate what an enormous power that is. People tend to tell me that this is who they are and that can't do something . And i wonder why they worry so much because if you absolutely had to do that then ofcourse you would. On the other end of the spectrum there are people who say that they can't sit still in a room and always have to be out and about. I feel like telling them to keep going and drawing lines and boundaries on their character so that they'll never venture beyond those silly assumptions.Sad.
Companies already inherently understand that they better adapt. If they keep running based on their assumptions of what they are then they end up taking those assumptions to the grave. Adapt or die simply means that either shatter your assumptions of yourself jump off the cliff and soar or simply wait to get pushed off and plummet.
So many of my friends have gone abroad and adapted to life there, accepted the cultures and way of living and found a way to handle it. They have no prior experience of living abroad and i'm sure it must have been a bit daunting to consider but the fact is that when you have to , you will.
Some people go through traumatic and heart wrenching breakups, a time when you wonder why everything goes to hell so easily and whether it's all worth it.The fact is that life has changed and has shattered and most people inherently adapt and spit fire and cry blood but they find a way to get back on their feet and dust off the dirt and start again.
I hope most people (me included) check their assumptions of themselves once in a while and consider really whether any of those matter so much. What i found is that if you have a purpose about you and a something your chasing then what life throws at you and where it puts you and what it asks of you isn't so difficult to handle .
Written on Tuesday, January 01, 2008 by Rohan Koshy
Happy new Year everyone!!
2007 is over and it's been a really eventful year.
Overall I've been very happy with what has transpired this past year.
It wasn't a great year but one event overshadowed all the rest and made it a really good one
A new year gives us all the opportunity to make a new start and more importantly to give us a chance to undo the past.
This year more than other is a year of focus and silent determination for me.Last year even though i faltered in most aspects of what i wanted to achieve i had the massive good fortune of sorting out my personal life.
So this year i have only one resolution
1. Don't repeat the mistakes of the past.
I know all the mistakes I've made in the past and how much it has cost me in terms of the future. At present there is no loss from those mistakes but I've realised that real loss lies in terms of the losses in the potential future that lies before you.
Don't do the same things again this year. If i can manage that, i know that i may not achieve what my final goals are but I'll definitely be on the right road and that, more now so than ever, is what matters
Here's Wishing you all a purposeful 2008
God Bless
Rohan
