Sunday, November 1, 2015

Important news that the popular media omitted - 1

In the past couple of weeks, there have been developments that IMHO are rather important but that, not all that surprisingly, aren't anywhere to be found on the news channels, even though they do have some modest print and digital representation. I'm thinking since this happens on a regular basis, I'll make this a regular feature on the blog.

So the 2 things I find most under-represented this week are:

(1) India started accepting gold deposits as if it were money, that is, you can earn interest on it. Gold had lost much of its legitimacy as money globally after the abandonment of the gold standard, but it looks like it is making a comeback, and India is at the helm! Now Warren Buffett can no longer say that there is no way to value it (the interest payments take away the abstraction by a great deal), or that 'civilized people don't buy gold'. Well, he still might say that. In any case, it is a very interesting experiment and deserves to be watched closely.

(2) India's states can now issue debt in the capital markets accessible to foreign investors. I believe it opens many doors, though prudence will be needed on the part of the state governments as not every open door should be walked through. I'll be watching closely.

Thankfully, TV channels did report the move away from China's well-known one child policy.

Sort of tangential, but since I'm vaguely criticizing news channels, here's an astute piece on why news can be harmful. Though, unlike me, it isn't quite concerned about errors of omission. 

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