A very successful, virtual, Drink & Think the other day, with Martin Wolf of The Financial Times as the Guest of Honour, was held – as this annual event always is – under the Chatham House Rule. What follows, therefore, is attributed to nobody taking part. It is my own thoughts and conclusions, after the…
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Businesses care about making profits because if they don’t, they go bust. Not only that, they couldn’t pay themselves well, nor could they sell the business at some point and provide for a financially-worry-free life, or for their old age, whichever comes first. Nor would they be able to provide their customers with what they…
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The overwhelming power of Covid-19 has confirmed and accelerated a trend to disbelieve in our own importance. It is a frightening state to find ourselves in and we should do everything we can to arrest it. If we don’t, I fear for the future of democracy. Not that I am an unreserved fan of democracy…
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Victor Mills is to be congratulated in raising the issue of loneliness by getting Nick Jonsson, Managing Director of EGN, to give a very helpful and honesttalk on the subject in a webinar organised by the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce a few days ago. This modest and likeable man said things most of us…
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Many thanks to all of you who responded to my ‘Study the questions’ Daily Paradox. It was most heartening to get your ideas and views. They came for far and wide. As per Chatham House Rule, I won’t tell you who said what but I think I can identify the source by country. Before I…
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We need to be able to read people at every stage of life and at every age. There can seldom have been a time when reading people accurately was more important than at present. Whether buying from, selling to, giving help or seeking advice, we must be able to read and judge those we come…
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Being generous people, we have a tendency to provide answers. At its simplest level it is what is required. Answers are the basis of all knowledge. As little children we ask questions expecting answers that will make us better equipped to grow up and handle an adult life. As students we are expected to be…
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If only the sun-drenched celebrities are being noticed and worshiped, then our children are going to have a tough time seeing the value in the shadows, where the thinkers, probers, and scientists are keeping society together. Rita Dove, poet (b. 28 Aug 1952) You may, like me, feel that shadows are already dulling the political…
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Let’s not call it Globalization anymore. The word has a ring of absorption and distant control that was never meant for it. Trump turned it into a flogging horse for his own impenetrable purposes. “Abandon an ideology when the people do. Give it another name to dress its purpose.” Wise, if cynical, words from a…
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The Daily Nugget “I realized I am a child of all nations, of all ages, past and present. Place and time of birth, parents, all are coincidence: such things are not sacred.” Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh Wisdom badly needed for today – John Bittleston