Aspartame

We have been working on a report about a company that markets a variant of Aspartame. In the process, I came across a series of articles on how Aspartame was approved by the US FDA. Here is one such. Don Rumsfield seems to have more than the blood of Afghans and Iraqis on his hand. Also, a gentle reminder that when it comes to corruption, Indians are not an exception, we follow the rest !

Read more here.  Corporates have their own agenda - look at the support the horrible Nuclear policy has generated in India - and often the agenda is inimical to the interest of the country.

A similar case is what is happening with Madhu Koda... read the next post.

Cell size and scale - awesome

Genetics and Size - click HERE

Indian gold reserves

Indian Central Bank gold reserves stood at 350 tonnes at the end of 2008. With the recent purchase from IMF, it would now be in the region of 550 tonnes - taking it to 9th place after Japan. However, India has been and remains the largest importer of gold - with annual imports ranging from 300 tonnes to 600 odd tonnes for private consumption. Barring the time from 1962-1992 when gold imports were barred, India has constantly imported from 1933 to now. Estimates of private holding range from 16000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes.

In this regard, this, is a very interesting blog post on gold and its history with regard to India. Though long, the post is worth reading to the end.

Gold vs some currencies

The movement of gold vs the Chinese currency and the Indian currency is interesting. China has pegged its currency to the dollar over the past few months, and India too seems to be doing the same. The world continues to want to subsidies US excesses. Why should the US consumer ever change? Incidentally gold has been a great investment since 2007 for Indian investors - our not-so-hip country cousins who continue to buy gold at all opportunities will be feeling fairly smart after all. 

Some lessons to remember

Watch the rest here

Jim Chanos: 10 Lessons From The Financial Crisis That Investors Have Already Forgotten

Tracking US dollars in country reserves

Jeffrey Frankel is James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard. He was appointed to the Council of Economic Advisers by President Clinton in 1996, and subsequently confirmed by the Senate.

His recent blog post on Dollar share in FX reserves of Central Banks is worth a read.

I am including the graph he puts in his article in this note. The US dollar (and the country) achieved international hegemony post World war II. A strong economy made a strong country and dollar became the "reserve currency". The world has come a full cycle. Arguments about - TINA - there is no alternative, will eventually have to face up to reality. When an alternative becomes a desperate enough need, it emerges.

US Consumers

An article in the New York Times today has this amazing chart. (If only we could track Indian data with this level of detail.) An interesting point that seems to emerge is that the American consumer has not REALLY stopped spending - just seemed to move from retail to wholesale! and despite record levels of unemployment, continues to eat and drink outside the home.

Clearly, old habits die hard. A bankrupt America, with high-spending consumers - and a government that continues to fight battles around the world. Prepare for a decade of political upheavals as America seeks to cling to its earlier pole position in the world, while the world starts to reject that role - the move from G8 to G20 is more than just a re-ordering of economic order.