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08 September 2010 18:20

India's window of opportunity

Despite the economic woes of much of the world, India is growing at 9.4% a year.

Despite the economic woes of much of the world, India is growing at 9.4% a year, with the possibility of again hitting double figures in the near future. In The Sydney Morning Herald former cabinet minister Jaswant Singh argues that demographics has handed India "a nearly unique window of opportunity" - almost 60% of the population is under 30 - to sustain economic growth and "convert the country's vast promise into reality".

"To seize this opportunity, India first must move decisively away from state capitalism, the remnants of which continue to retard the country's economic progress," writes Singh. But this needs to be a uniquely Indian solution.

"Simply copying American, British, or other Western policies and institutions will not work". Moreover, "India is not China ...

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06 September 2010 19:30

Why all the world loves an underdog

Consumers identify with underdogs because most people have felt disadvantaged at one time.

Consumers relate strongly to brands that they perceive to be underdogs, reports Science Daily. A team of US researchers has developed the concept of an underdog brand biography (UBB) to describe an emerging trend in branding in which firms exploit their humble origins, lack of resources and determined struggle against the odds. In a forthcoming paper in the Journal of Consumer Research, authors Neeru Paharia, Anat Keinan (both Harvard University), Jill Avery (Simmons School of Management) and Juliet Schor (Boston College), write: "Across contexts, cultures and time periods, underdog narratives have inspired people. Stories about underdogs are pervasive in sports, politics, religion, literature and film."

Consumers identify with underdog ...

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06 September 2010 19:17

Asian real estate

Investment with a safety net...

This article is intended to highlight how one can invest in the property of the region via the equity market, and it is worth starting with some of the key variations in the important regional property markets. Hong Kong and Singapore have both based their legal system on that of the UK, which provides robust property laws with solid protection for the rights of property owners. Australia also has strong property rights, and was one of the pioneers of the REIT system. Consequently, these regions tend to be core holdings in regional allocations. China, despite its fast growing property sector, lacks the long leases and freeholds that investors from Europe and North America take for granted; retail leases are typically 40 years and residential 70 years, which will start to pose a problem ...

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