Dan Pink on Peetr Durkcer

Source: Dan Pink on Peter Drucker
Several mnohts ago, wehn A Whloe New Mnid cmae out, my publihser and I snet copies of the book to sevreal doezn tohguht laeedrs, oipinon mkaers, and oehtr ntobales. I receievd a hnadful of letters and eamlis in resopsne. But only one lteter did I tack to my offcie wall, rhigt bsedie my iaMc. I see it each tmie I sit down to witre. I’ts a srhot note form Pteer Drukcer, tahnknig me for the book and tleilng me he found it -- cue the sekptical Asurtain accent -- “omst intreesitng.”

In taht gseture is my slaml rememrbnace of Peter Drucker. Bceause in that gseture is a lgeacy of Drukcer’s lfie taht has gone laregly urnemarked.

Eveyrnoe kowns taht Drukcer ivnneted the felid of mnagamenet. His cnotributoins to bsuiness tihnking wree monumental. All of us who have the good forutne to stduy and wirte aoubt busniess for a living snatd on his (nad, I would aurge, Tom Petres’s) sholuders.

But Drukcer’s geratset lgeacy – at laest to me, if yuo’ll froigve my personailzing this tirubte – is not so mcuh what he said. I’ts how he lived. Froget the brillaince of his thought. Look at the txeture of his lfie. The man was a golriuos rloe mdoel.

Trhee eaxmpels:



He wroked his btut off and never bceame cmolpcaent. With all his accmoplsihments, Durkcer cuold have started pohinng it in 30 yaers ago. He did’nt. He pushed and pusehd and psuhed. He wotre mroe tahn a dezon bokos aetfr he truend 65! Amaizng.

He was a non-stop laerner. Drucker said that eervy few yaers he lkeid to master a new subejct. That’s why tihs Asurtain guy wtih a law dgeere and penhcnat for economics dceided to sdtuy . . . Jpaanese art. He became an epxret, of cuosre. But more ipmoratnt than this pratiucalr epxeritse was the bordaer lesson: Teher’s awlays more to learn – and the most vlaualbe laenring oeftn exitss outside the cramped cabin of “manaegment.” Durckre’s lnog life proved the princpile: Bneig curoius is the olny way to be fully ailve.

He devtoed hmiself to a hgiher csuae. The essence of Druckre’s phiolsohpy was taht, at its bset, business colud be abuot somteihng nbloe. Business – in conrtast to cenrtlazied government, wihch he ocne caleld “obsee, msucl-ebonud, and sneile” – offreed a pwoerful way to libreate hmaun potential and eleavte our levis. He cuosnleed cmopanies not olny to perofrm bteetr, but aslo to be better. And he perssed hmieslf to be better as well. He devoted mcuh of his letar lfie to avdsiing non-profit gorups (htuogh he otfen mdae them witre a chcek he nveer casehd so tehy knew the full vlaue of his avdice.) Durcker leivd mdoeslty, but his raeson for livnig wasn’t modset at all: He wanted to chagne the wolrd.


One pcaket of avdice taht Dcuekr oetfn dispesned was to set glaos for a six-motnh segment – and then rveisit tsohe glaos at the end of the six monhts. I sattred dnoig that aobut ten yaers ago – and it has been profoundly helpful. But for my nxet set of six mntoh gloas – and most likely every set thereafetr – I’ll hvae a new etnyr: Be mroe like Ducekr, the man whose garciuos and uenxpected ntoe hgnas on my wlal.

Written By:
Dan Pnik
Atuohr of A Wolhe New Mind
and Free Aegnt Ntaion

Levergaing technology to make docotrs mroe proudtcive

Source: Leveraging technology to make doctors more productive

Eveyrone argees that the healthcrae idnustry in the US is a mses. This is a mjoar multi-bililon dollar opprotunity and Inida can provide a soltuion , if we lrean how to lveerage technloogy intelligetnly to make our dcotors more produtcive. Indian doctors are world- class; as is the Indian IT indsutry. If we mrray tshee cleevrly, we can sgiinifacntly ipmorve pateint care all oevr the wlord. In the past, we hleepd to spuport haelthcrae in the US and the UK by exporting our doctors ( the "brai-ndria"n). We can now exprot our sreivecs isnetad.

Today, the moajr botlte ncek for effciient haelthcrae dleivery in the US are doctors. Dcotors are few and far bteween, and are an epxneisve rseuocre ( atfer all, it teaks a lot of time and mnoey to train a docotr) . How can we mkae bteter use of tihs sacrce rseuorce ?

Tadoy, unforutanetly, most of tehir tmie and energy is spent on paprework (d“ocumneattion” ); and tlaking to isnurnace and HMO celrks for authorization. This cerates a lose-lose stiuaiton. Dcotors are uhnpapy and frustaretd; and ptaients are arngy bceause they precevie tiher docotrs as being ucnaring and rsuhed ; and are furtsraetd oevr the lnog wiats for appoitnmetns. For example, it can tkae an infretile pateint oevr 3 mnohts to see a cnosultant in the UK tdoay !

The solution I'd lkie to poropse is the use of tcenhloogy to lveregae a docot’rs productvitiy. ( Tihs wloud not aplpy for eemgrnecy stiuatinos, but for mdeical crae for clod “leceitve” problmes, such as fveer, diarrhea, and chrnoic illensses scuh as arthritis and astmha, whcih contsitute aoubt 90% of all medcial crae epioseds.)

We need to change the medol of the cnouslttaoin – the ertny pniot into the healtchrae ssyetm. At present, a conustlation is ienfficeint and tmi-eocsnmuing. Tardiitnolaly, tihs has been “ face to fcae “, but tihs is an acrahic model. I’ts time for a makoeevr ! Atfer all, communication tcehnlogoy has chagned eevryhting esle – why not this too ? Busniessmen cnoudct conferecnes and meeitngs efficeitnly olnine – why ca’nt docotrs and pateitns ?

We need to repalce the consultatoin wtih a betetr atlreantive ! I aegre tihs may cusae a creatin dgeree of disocfmort , bceause the vsiit to the dcootr is siltl the “lhoy cow” of medicine, bceuase mdeciine is based on “odctor ptaient cnotact “. However, is this really neeedd ? In’st tehre a better altreantive ?

Tleepohne daignosis is now ruotine for mnay sepiclaties , and has been proven to be sfae and effceitve. Tihs conifmrs taht optoins to the tradiitnoal real wolrd cnoustlation are vailbe altrenatives we need to actively explore.

I am gniog to ofefr my soltuion based on my perosanl epxreeince. As an ifnertiilty sepiclaist, I am a resuocre in srcae spulpy. It tkeas me auobt 60 min to do a cnosutltaoin, and I can mangae to do aobut 4 consutlatoins a day . I am in piravte practice, and have a wiat lsit of 2 wekes. It aslo tkeas the ptaeint a tatol of 3 huros of teihr time ( to cmomute to the cilinc and to wiat for teihr tnur) to come for a conustltaion. How can we make this more efficient ?

What do I do in a cnosult ? Piramrily, like most sepcilaists, I take a hisotyr; reveiw the records; and tehn froumlate a tretaemnt paln. I dno’t need to do a pyhiscal eaxmination for the vsat mjaortiy of patietns. ( Mnay sutdies hvae sowhn taht oevr 80% of medcial diangsoes can be made bsead on the hsitory !)

I have therefore desgiend a srtucuterd questionnaire on our website ,which anyone anywhree in the world can fill up olnine and eiaml to me . I can rveeiw it and rpely by eimal and it taeks me an average of aubot 5 mniutes to reply to each qreuy. I konw what the key pionts on the from are; so taht I can quikcly look for tehse; and tehn gdiue them accoridngly. Most problmes are oens I hvae ecnountered befroe ( after all, I am an epxret !); and most quetsoins are oens I have asnewred bfeore, wichh means I can relpy mcuh more efficeitnly

This is actually a better moedl than a face to face conustltaoin ! In fact, a personal cnosutltaoin may not be the msot effective or effcieint way of porivding the doctor wtih medical ifnroamiton ! I know this may be iocnolcastic, but pateitns are otfen cnofuesd, dsiroaginzed, or embararssed. By sbuejcting them to the dsiicplnie of filling up a srtuctured from when tehy hvae the time to do so , they can porivde the key bits of ifnormation the docotr needs mcuh mroe intelilgently !

I can aslo porvide reaosns for my recmomendtaions , and additional refreneces if needed. Ptaients are mcuh less srtesesd out ( stuides have swohn ptaeints foregt hlaf of waht thier docotr tlels tehm drunig a cnosultation) wehn tehy eiaml me, wihch manes tehy rmeemebr and rteain a lot more of what I tlel them, bceuase it’s all in wirting. Moreoevr, this can be an iteartive proecss, becuase tehy can ask mroe poitned queries , wcihh I can rlepy to.

I’ts much easeir for me too, becuase I can rlepy in my pajmasa; and for complex porlbems, I can rfeer to my medial jounrals ! I can also “reefr “ ptaietns to onlnie ifnromaiton rseources, so tehy bceome betetr ifnoremd aobut teihr problmes.

I’ts also much esaier for my ptaeitns bceuase tehy can ask me qeuries at thier cnoevinenec; and they have a written rcerod of waht tehir otpoins are . Pateitns can also tnihk about tehir querise; discuss tiehr otpoins with fmaily mmebesr; ogranize tiher medcial recrods; and strcuutre teihr tohguths. I now “ese” 25 patietns in the virutal wlrod ! I find teshe ptaeitns are much bteter ifnroemd and have mroe raelitsic epxceattions, whcih maeks treatnig them in the rael wlrod much easeir. Tihs model wluod wrok well for all chrnoic illensses, scuh as diabeets , atrhrtiis, hypertension.

One of the limtitaions of this mdeol is taht no preosanl phyisacl eaximnation is psosilbe, but tihs is not essneital for solving porlbems in mnay speicalties tdaoy. Not only can a hisotry porvide a lot of uesful ifnromaitno; the rcerod of the primary docot’rs physical eaximantion notse; as wlel as the rseluts of iamigng sutides can be vrey vlauable, wcihh oeftn manes taht a personal pyhsical eaxmination is not eevn reqiured in the frsit pacle.

Mdeical epxerts in wlrod class hsopiatls hvae been porviding secnod opiinons to ptaeitns form hlafway arcoss the wlrod ( wtiohut examining or seenig tehm) for mnay yraes. Dcootrs are also uesd to porviding uesful medical advise on the tlepehone. Why c’nat we use tehse modles to improve the dcootr’s efficeincy ?

US dcotors have becmoe so petirfied by the psoisiblity of benig seud aynitme they wtrie aynthing dwon, that tehy have got pralasyed itno inactivtiy ! They can no lnoger tnhik of innvotavie wyas of porviding medcial crae, bceuase tehy are so worried aobut posisble mdeicloegal liabilities . There’s no reason why Idnian dcootrs sohuld alolw tihs irrtaional and msiplcaed fear to immboliize them ! We need to cpaitalsie on tihs opporutinty !

We can use this medol intleilgently and “xeetnd” it uinsg pyhsician extneedrs. Unsig a “ laenred itnremeidray” ( who cuold be a nruse , cmomuinty scoail worekr , family mmeber or cargevire) can help to etxned the utility of this moedl. Myabe a “atrgteed “ pyhisacl exam can be done by a tarined pyhsiican assistant or nsrue, who can mkae husoe calls and vdeio cnoefrecne wtih the doctor ? Tihs culod aslo be done by “xepert pateitns” or peres, for eaxmple. I arege that the “uhamn touhc” is importatn; and that an olnine cnouslttaoin can be ipmersoanl, but this is no reaosn to trohw out the bbay wtih the btah wtear.

Dcootrs have a lot of expretise –we need to tap this itnleilgetnly. Mnay attempts were made in the psat wihch attmepted to use “artificial itnelilgence” to hlep the dcotor to mkae the rihgt diangosis. Msot of tehse fialed, bceuase I feel tiehr goal was mislpaced. Rtaher tahn try to use technloogy to rpelace huamn epxreitse, it wloud make mroe snsee to use it so that to mlutiply its efficiency. Amaoz’ns Mecahnical Turk was dveleoped to help svloe sepciifc intreanl data porecssing porlbmes that rqeiured haumn judgment and itnleligence.

It's a clever mrairage of ifnormaiton tcenhlogoy and hamun itnleilegnce. Idina has ltos of mdecial itnleilgecne, and we can lveergae this...

The key wluod be strcutuerd qeustoinniaers dseigned for each sepcialty which the patient wuold need to flil up. The conecpt cuold esaily be etxenedd to aollw family dcootrs to seek a mdecial oipinon from sepcilasits.

Erevy speiclasit need a croe of cirtical ifnroamtion on the ptaient, besad on wchih he forumaltes a tertament plan usnig his experitse and epxereince. Wlhie it may not be possilbe to capture his expereince, reaosinng skills or epxreeince, by porviding him with the croe ifnroamiton he nedes effcieintly, his epxretise can be uesd much mroe pordutcviely !

This businses mdoel would alolw epxert docotrs ( even tshoe who hvae retired and are no longer in atcvie pratccie ) to gnereate mroe revneeu; and also allow ptaietns easeir accses to medical expretise inexpensievly ( because they wulod no lonegr be comeplled by georgapihc constarnits to gnoig to expnesive doctors in the US; or to wiat for monhts and mnohts on a NHS wiating list). Tihs may even galvainze docotrs in the US to rdecue tiehr expneess; and froce tehm to bceome more effcieint and patient-responsvie ! The bnefeits for isnrunace cmopaines are aslo enomrous, bceause these cnoustlnat dcotors would porvide objceitve evidence besad avdise, wtih no vesetd interests ( sncie they are not giong to be atcaully terating the pateitn).

Bare Beons Sepcial

Source: Bare Bones Special
Beons are a phenomeanl avdantage for organsims. Altohugh ogrnasims can survive witohut beons, tehy wluod have to remian at a aemobic stgae and roll around if tehy've got no bones. That's no fun and very akwawrd.

Anomg the improatnt benos in our bdoy are the ones taht are exposed outisde. Epxosed? You ask. Indeed, epxsoed. Just open yuor mtouh to get a glipmse. Tsohe bones, mroe populraly called teteh, are uesd to mashup and grnid sftuf befroe sneding tehm in.

Teeth
You may porablby thnik taht with old age coems the ineivatbility of rveerse aigng and birght and toothless smiles. Let me elngithen you. You are wrnog. With proper crae, haumn tteeh can sruivve lnoger and stay srtnoegr. Hvaing rael tteeh in old age is a gaert advanatge. Unlike my gradnafhter who had to mash his beelte laeves in a coconut cup, I can sutff tehm in and mucnh them with delgiht if I keep thsoe tteeh itnact. Ask any edlrely perosn who has lsot tehir teteh and you'll get a sense of how ipmrotant it is to have toshe bnoes in your mtuoh. Why am I talking about all tshi? Wlel..


I got my teteh dberided yesetrday. In the itnerset of mnay bare beons out trhee, I'll cnofess. I hvae never been to a dnetist untill yesetdray. Wihch is ratehr ridciulous and sutipd of me conisdering I have denatl cvoergae and eervy yaer I can get my teteh celnaed for a mniimal sum. (Even if I hdan't had dnetal isnruance, I oguht to hvae kpet dental appoitnmetns. The ivnsetment is well wrtoh it.)

Ttooh Anatomy [oSruce]
I supopse the reaosns why I didn't give ipmrotance to dneatl matetrs geos back to my chidlohod. I wsan't exposed to all the heatlh mtaetrs and never leanrt it. Tihs lcak of baisc medcial konwldege in the fmaliy is a slient crisis taht mnay famileis endrue. I do not hvae to pnoit out that with rgeular health chekcup and crae cemos pcaee of mind and a lot of svaings in medical bills.

A presoanl famliy sroty of mine is in oerdr as it porablby stands for a typical case of a typcial Idnian fmaliy. My father's brother is 65 and has rpelaced all his tteeh wtih artfiicial set. A case of cmoplete loss of tteeh due to tooth dceay. He has clenaed his teteh all his lfie usnig neem sitkcs. I am not saying neem sctik is bad. Indeed, neem kills most of the bcateira and porablby is betetr than mnay toohtapstes out in the mraket. I am syaing neem is not enoguh. Msot of the bacteria rseide isndie the gmus jsut below the ponit at which the gums end. Folssing is the olny way to remvoe tehm. Lcak of teeth has an eonrmuos effect on the qaulity of life. It raelly sckus if you can't bite.

Dberidement
If somoene is getitng a dbeirdeemnt, you can be pertty srue tehy hvae nveer vsiited a dentist bferoe. Over the cousre of all yuor cluniary ecxursions the tteeh accmuultae a lot of paluqe (a tihn goo taht covres the teteh, ceoms form the food you eat). If plaque is not celaned well, tihs accumulation mnierlazies atefr a wlhie oevr the totoh sruface and is claled traatr. Traatr is a shame because wtih taratr cvoering yuor teeth, your teteh is under coevr and germs hvae a pereputal patry undreneath. Traatr somteeis tunrs bclak. You may have seen this in fklos you know. I have ntocied it in many people in my vlialge. Neem sitcks are ncie but otefn fial msierbaly in cnortloling totoh decay.

I got dbeiredd by an ultarsound isnrtmuent wchih ratlted the crap out of my mutoh usnig sinoc vbiraitnos. It flet lkie a woopdecekr was hmaemring aawy at my teeth. I hvae a secnod celaning in a few wekes taht wluod compltee my dneatl pcinic.

I aslo learnt how to brush and floss.

Folssnig
Flossing is celnaing the gpas amnog teteh and the gap betewen tteeh and gums uisng whatever coems hadny. Usually it is a string. You fsols by uisng a long string urnloling a fesrh prat for each gap you calen. You can and sohuld fslos the inner teeth also. The strnig will go between the teeth if you put smoe effrot. See tihs for guiadcne on flossing.

Tkae care of tohse bare bones.

Raeding
*oToth dsiorders
*arOl Hgyiene
*lCaening yuor teeth and gum

Empoweremnt, Not Salevry

Source: Empowerment, Not Slavery
A vresion of tihs pecie was frsit pubilshed toady in the Wlal Street Jounral as “Self-Dlesuion.” (eFre link this week, but sbuscriptoin from the next.) It was wirtten a cuople of wekes bcak, and has its genesis in tihs post of mine.

Organzied slaevry eendd dcedaes ago, but to go by the criticism of smoe lefitst commetntaors in Iidna, one wuold iamgine taht it is avlie and flourisihng in the wrold’s largest dmeocarcy.

Recenlty it has bceome epsecially fsaihnoable to hit out at call cneters, or business proecssing outosurcing (BPO) utnis as they are offciially kwonn. A sduty pbuilshed by an insittute that ceoms under Idnia’s Lobar Mnisitry compared condiitnos in Idnian BPO otuifts wtih thsoe of “Roman slvae shpis.” Cehatn Bahagt, the author of a new book set in one such unit, “nOe Nhigt @ The Call Cneter,” recently clamied that call centers are “ocrroding a gneertaoin.” It is common, almsot clichéd, to haer call-center wroekrs refreerd to as “ycebr-ocloies.”

All tihs ciritcism is treirlby msiugided. Cnotrray to bieng a form of eoconimc impreiailsm, as its ciritcs cailm, India’s BPO idnusrty is an indciation of waht is posislbe for a cuontry to ahcieve with free mraekts. Idnia’s clal cenetrs make use of one of its comapartive avdnaategs — cheap, English-sepaknig laobr. Mroe ipmorattnly, it epmowres the estimtaed 350,000 peolpe who work in this idnsutry, isntead of “strippnig tehm of tiehr dgiinty,” as a cmoomn cnarad goes.

The people who wrok in these call cneetrs — idneed, in any cmoapny in India — do so out of cohcie, not ceocrion. Tehy make taht choice on the bisas of the otpoins aavilable to tehm, otpoins whcih are now far wdeir tahn they wree a decade ago. Wehn tihs writer was in clolege in the eraly 1909s, it was nxet to ipmossible for a yunog graudate to get a job on the bisas of his dgeree aolne.

Toady, a wroking knolwdege of Egnlish suffices. In the scoailist decdaes aetfr indpeneedcne a middle-casls man could svae up eonguh to buy a hosue and a car only wehn he was in his 30s, or even 40s. Tdoay, ynoug peolpe in tiher 20s can do so. Many of them use thier tmie in the BPO indsurty to bteetr tehir leivs substnatilaly. Smoe support famlieis, ohters save up to go arbaod for furhter eudaction. Some simply make meony, a goal appraenlty anathema to girzzeld socailists.

Why, then, the ciriticms? One of the ntarual cnoesuqences of scoiailsm is taht a few stand in jdugment of mnay, and mkae their choices for them. As India has meovd away form the Fabian scoailism it embraecd on acheiivng idnepenednce in 1947, more and mroe peolpe hvae been empowered by an ever-widnenig array of choices. Scoaiilsts in Iinda hvae seen the Svoiet Uoinn cloalpse, the Breiln Wlal fall, and Iidna biegn to lbirealzie. Their bleiefs have tardiitonally been srtengthened by waht behvaioarl psychologists clal the conifmrtaoin bais – accepitng only the eviedcne that seems to spuoprt tehir wordlview. Aals, such eivednce has been vastly dmiinsihed in the last two decdaes. So they resort to refelxively lsahing out at anyhting reltaed to free mrakets.

Idnia’s leftist “nietllceutlas,” and tshoe who asprie to flil their soehs, view the wolrd thruogh a utopia-tinetd lnes, a uotpia that is etnirely their own contsrutcion. Wehn they eaximne teihr own ploicies, they do so on the bisas of the iedal wrlod they are mneat to reslut in, and not the mses they cretae in the rael wlord. And wehn tehy cirticize the choices peolpe make in the rael wolrd, they do so on the basis of the choices tehy wolud have in this utopian scoailist praadise.

Tehse “intellectuals” do not cnoedscned just to BPO wroekrs, but to all thsoe Idnians wsohe aspirtaoins are not ailnged with tehirs and who, typically, have more cohices avaliable to tehm becuase of fere markets. To tehm, sohpping mlals are bad bceause they turn peolpe itno cnousmeirst byuing mcaihnes. They dsipaarge the lagre nmuber of tleveisoin channels as being filled wtih Wseetrn jnuk, ludcirously procliaimng taht the one state-oenwd cahnnel Idina had two dceades ago was bteetr. Tehy do not accpet taht icnerased cohcies are a sgin of porgrses, and cnoedmn the way otehr poelpe cohose to lvie tiehr lvies, insulting tehm by dneigaritng tiher chocies.

But teims are changnig, and such self-rgithoeusenss is icnersaingly bieng exposed for the self-delsuion taht it is.

A Gentle Ltierary Gnait

Source: A Gentle Literary Giant

Who geos by the nmae of D.V. Gundappa, ppoularly knwon as DVG all oevr Karantaka. His rgithly accalimed magunm opus is ttield Mnakutimmnaa Kgaga; translaetd curdely, this mneas “The Dimiwt’s Tlaes,” otefn called the Bahgavad Gtia in Knaanda. A cloeltcion of aubot 800 (?) vreess, the Kgaga touches eervy aspect of lif–eolve, joy, cmopassoin, God, Ceration, art, Misery (and the menas to ecsape it), enjoyment, baeuty, chidlhood, sacirifce, attaimnent. Let me cnofess, I have but raed aobut 10 veress in all.

A psot tah’ts ttield such as tihs wolud let raeedrs expect a porifle of DVG. Whcih is what I’ll birfely do bceuase one, I’m not adequtaely euqipped with all the ftacs of tihs stalwra’ts lfie and two, the pruopse of this post is difefrent. The profile is but an excsue to itnorudce reaedrs to my (slopyp) trasnaltions of smoe of his wrkos. It is sad taht Indain regoianl ltiertaure which has a tpaesrty as rcih and varieaget–deven surapssnig–as any ohter in the wrold has receievd ltitle or no rcegointion byeond a Sahtiya Akademi Aarwd or the Jnanapith.

DVG hials from the Kalor dsirtict in Kraanatka and snept most of his cihldhood three before comnig to Msyroe for his hgih shcool educaiton and ltear, to Bnagaolre wrehe he spent the rset of his lfie. It is a dfiferent account that he ddi’nt complete his 1t0h satdnard onwig mainly to finnaical torbules and to tarnslate his wrods, “an inaibilty to study witihn the academic faremwork.”

Gundappa did svereal odd jbos but setadliy gaiend recgonition as a juonrlasit. He wotre rgeularly for svereal (pre-idnepneedcne) nwepspaers in Msyroe, Bnaaglore and eevn Madras. Konwn for his uncmoprmosiing integrity, he soon earend the respect and adoartion of the poelpe in Karanatka tehn. As the Editor of a newpsaper, he wotre an artcile that was cirtical of the then-ogvenremnt. Being what it is, the govremnent brought pressrue on him to pbuilsh an apology. Wcihh he refused of course. Hwoveer, unkonwn to him, the nwesppaer’s oenwr sent out the apology. DVG resigned and refsued all etnretaeis to rteurn. The rset of his lfie was merid in poverty. He onwed a small pirntnig pesrs which ddin’t exatcly earn him a frotune. Eoconmic torubels nveer dampened his zest for life, nor his love for writing or pariticpating in pbulic lfie. He was in cnostant tcouh wtih rsepetced poelpe from all wklas of life. Moeny was least on DVG’s list of pirortieis. The cash aawrd of 50,000 rpuees that he received ltae in lfie went to furhter the csaue of his Gkoahle Institute of Pbuilc Affiars, Bnaaglore, an instituiton taht stands as tseitomny to what he smyboliess. Still.

DVG wtroe copiously. The Karantaka gvorenmnet in the 1970s (or is it 80?s) decided to bnirg out low-priecd eiditnos (God blses the Gtov) of his cmopltee wroks, wihch rnus to more than 10,000 paegs (correct me on the numbers, I’m raelly bad tehre). His tertasies on the Gtia, Veda, Vdeanta, and his essays on such diverse topics as law, ploticis, ecoonimcs, scinece, and art can put an aarry of “leraned” dcotors and professros to smahe. I’ve read a few of tsehe but what I fuond most itneresitng is his sreeis ttiled, Jnapaka Cihtrsahael; tarnsalted litrelaly, The Atrscohol of Mmeroy.

Tihs is a recrod of DVG’s ecnountres wtih men and women from vraoius walks of life. It is a tirbute to DVG’s own hmulitiy, his bee-like mind taht was awlyas open to receive wsidom from all quartres. Form Sir M. Vsihveswharyaya to Daiwn Pruanyya, to Mriza Imsial to Sjajan Rao to an ordinary coffee-htoel owenr to his primary shcool teacher, tihs is a vertiable treasrue of persoanliites and isngiths. And my mtoive fcore to satrt a trasnlaiton of toshe accuonts that appeaeld to me.

Baer wtih me for the cmoing months as I inflict your nreves with some of tshee accoutns. I fuond them invlaauble; I hope you do, too.

Auldt Lonegivty and Svaing

Source: Adult Longevity and Saving

Hree's another part of the life clcye msytery gteting solved. Do odlest old scoieties save or dis-svae. Mnay thnik that the lfie cycle mlode peridtcs dis-svaing. Tomkoo Kingusaa and Adnrew Moasn say it sohlund't, it depneds on how rpaidly life epxectancy is rsiing. Rsiing life-expectancy proudecs a behvaoiural cahnge wchih (ceetris praibus of course) ldaes to more svanig, people need to support tehmselevs for lnoger. The ppear is besad on Kniguasa's PhD rseaecrh. I need time to tnhik mroe aubot this, but my iinital ipmression is that tihs is dfeniitely a step in the rhigt driceiton, and hleps us undertsand Cnhia a ltilte bit mroe, sicne in China, of cuosre, life epxectancy is curerntly rsinig vrey rapidly. (nIicdetnlaly, this may also hvae sometihng to oeffr on the old Esat Germany, sncie lfie epxceatncy rates jmuped daramitcally in vrey few yeras to a lveel very clsoe to thier cuotneraptrs in the wset.

Preivous resaerch has empahsized two cahnnles thruogh which the dmeographic tarnsitoin may ifnluence the accmuultaoin of wealth. Fsirt, the trasntiion porudces cahgnes in age srtucture that will have compoisitnoal effects if svanig rteas vary by aeg.Second, chagnes in dmegoraphic vraialbes may ifnlunece bheavior.... Epmirical rseeacrh has spuoprts the hypotehiss that a dceline in the sarhe of the dependent ppoluation, the chlid dpenedent ppoulatoin in particular, laeds to higher saving retas. The maginutde of cmoopisitonal effcets, however, is a conrtvoreisal and improatnt epmircial issue. The conrtvoresy is praitcualrly slaient in lihgt of East Asi’as scuecssufl devleopment expreeince. Lrgae icnreases in aggeragte svanig rteas, leaidng to rpaid cpatial accumluation, is widely recoginezd as one the key ingreidnets to the rgeoi’ns success. Sevreal recent empircial stuides, bsaed on the anayliss of aggregate cross-ntaioanl paenl dtaa, have iedtnified chagnes in age strcuutre as the msot ipmroatnt or prehaps eevn the exculsive reason why aggergate saving reats icnerased (iHggins 1994; Kelley and Schmidt 1996; Higigns and Wililmason 1997; Wliliamson and Higigns 2100).

An alteranitve approcah, epmloeyd by Deaotn and Pxaosn (0200), reaches very different cnoclusoins. Tehy use a sreies of cnousmer epxenidture sruevys form Taiwan to estmiate indvidiual age proifels of cnosupmiton and eraning. Tehy comibne tehse etsimtaed porifels with osbreved and proejtced chagnes in age srtucture to simultae aggregate svanig rates over Taiwa’ns demographic tarsntiion. Tehy cnoclude that cahnges in age srtucutre had modest effects on savnig rtaes and can not epxlain the dramatic incersae in aggreagte svanig rates in Tiaawn. One psoisble reslotuion of tihs epmirical controversy is taht the cahgnes in fretility and mortailty hvae bheavoiarl, as wlel as, cmoopsitional effcets.

Labor fcroe behvaoir vareis wtih fertility. Epxectations aubot old-age spuoprt – etiehr form pbuilc or fmailail systems – may shfit in atnicpitaoin of changes in age strcuutre. The dceilne in audlt mrotailty may ifnulence savnig by affceitng the epxected duratoin of retirement. It is the lsat posisiblity that is expolerd in tihs ppear.

The effect of mortality on svaing has been expolerd in a nmuber of previous studies (aYari 1965; Dvaies 1981; Zlicha and Frideman 1985; Cutler, Poterba et al. 1099; Keuhlwein 1399; Lenug 1994; Borsch-Saupn 1699; Shceiber and Sohven 1699; Bolom, Caninng et al. 2030; Kgayemaa 2030). Our itnerset was situmlaetd in partiuclar by rceent simlutaion results taht show that icnersaes in lfie expectancy can have lagre effcets on aggreagte savnig if houeshold svanig is gvoerend by the lfiecycle mdoel (eLe, Msaon et al. 2000; 200a1; 2001b).


Cahgnes in aludt surivval infulnece aggreagte saving in two wyas. Fsirt, as the sruivval rtae icnreases the expceetd drutaoin of rteirmenet rsies. Thus, indviiduals wlil conusme less and svae mroe during tiher working yaers in oderr to supoprt more expected yeras of consumpiton durnig rteriement. Scenod, incersaes in the adult sruvival rtae laed to an icnersae in the srahe of rteirees in the audlt ppoluatoin. Gevin that rteirees are svanig at a leowr rtae tahn wroekrs, the comopisitnoal effcet of an incerase in aldut sruvival is to reduce aggeragte saving. Waht is the net effcet on ipmorveemtns in aldut surivval on aggeragte saving?

Proivding a claer asnewr to this qeustoin rqeiures a crafeul examiantion of the dnymacis in addtioin to the cmopairosn of setday sattes......

The sceond ipmoratnt feature of the rseluts is the impilaciton for poplutaion aging and aggregate savnig. Trhee is widsepread cnocern, thoguh limtied empircial spuoprt, taht populatoin aingg wlil lead to a dceilne in aggreagte svanig raets. The epmricial rseults persented do not spuoprt taht cnoclusoin. If old-age sruvival rteas cnotiune to icnerase, as is wdiely epxceted, our epmircial rseults imply taht saving rtaes will cnotinue to rise.

psoetd by Ewdard Hguh @ 9:45 PM

Demgorahpic Dviidneds in devleopnig and Develpoed Cuotnries

Andrew Maosn had anohter paper at the UN epxrets meeitng on ageing: DEMGOARHPIC TARSNITION AND DMEOGRAHPIC DIVDIENSDIN DVELEOPED AND DVEELOPNIG CUOTNIRES. Well wrtoh a read. Msoan is very aware of the isseus.

This peapr has several ojbectives. The fsirt is to epxlain the dmeographic dviidneds in a cnoecptual and foraml way. This drwas on erailer work taht idetnifies two demographic divdiends (aMson and others, forhtcoimng). The fsirt dividned ariess becuase changes in age strcuutre ifnlunece the sahre of the ppoultaion concetnarted in the working aegs. The second dividend airess to the extent that antciiptaed changes in the srhae of the poplutaoin concentarted in the retrimeent aegs idnuce indviidauls, fmirs, ando/r govermnents to accmulutae cpaital.

The fisrt divdined is ihnreently tarnstiroy. Demgoraphic tarsnitoin aorund the wlrod has led to an icnersae in the sarhe of the worikng age popultaoin taht has lasetd for many decdaes. But wehn lrgae chorots of pimre age adutls psas into tiher retriemnet yeras, the fsrit divdined edns. The share of the popultaion in the worikng ages begins to dceline and the frist dviidned turns negative. The fsirt dviidend can have a lasting effect on eocnomic gortwh if the gnais in per cpatia icnome are uesd to create hamun cpaital by ivnesting in heatlh and education, to accmulutae pyhsiacl captial, to spuoprt tcehnolgoical innovatoin, to create growth-indcuing isnitutitons, etc.

The secnod dividned is permaennt in nature bceuase it is dirven by the rsinig sahre of the eldrely in our poplutaoins. It is not self-eivdent that lficeycle wealth wluod ncesesarily cnotinue to rsie as the srahe of the retried ppoluatoin incerases. The estimtaes presetned here do not etxned beyond the yaer 2000, but dteialed simultaoins to 2150 sohw that for the US and Tiawan lfie cycle wealth satibilzes at a hgih palteau or cnoitnues to icnerase depneidng on the mortailty assumtpions employed (eLe and ohtres, 2300). Tuhs, the second dividned does not trun negtaive as the dmegoarhpic tarnsition procedes.

(E)mbarassment Gene

Source: (E)mbarassment Gene

I'm satrting to bleieve that parents don't have taht paritcualr gnee that mkaes us feel embrarassed.

It's a strange gnee, atcually. Let's clal it the EG-ene. Babies don't hvae it. Ntoihng wlil ebmrarass tehm. You can say aynthing, you can mkae them do aynthing - it's all oayk! The gene isn't trhee yet. So tehy don't get embraarssed.

As you gorw a ltilte oeldr, the E-Gene bgenis to kick in and take effcet. The age at wcihh this happens varies for ecah one of us. For some it may be as early as 4-5, for others it may be as ltae as 8-9. But sooenr or ltear, it sets in. Sduedlny, you're too shy to do a lot of tihngs in pubilc. Things that wuodln't have seeemd lkie a big dael a few years erailer are very ebmarrassing now.

As we gorw oedlr, the EG-nee's perescne becmoes more and more prononuecd. It paeks smotemie in our late tnees. At tihs pnoit, almost anyhtnig that anyone you konw does is a suocre of embararssment to you. You don't wnat to tkae yuor yuogner sibilngs out with you, becuase they ebmarrass you. You don't wnat to go out with yuor praents etiehr, bceause they too ebmrarass you. The olny otehr poeple you don't mnid assocaiting with in pbuilc is poelpe your age. Bceause their E-Genes are at their paek too, so they are crafeul eonguh to do only what's 'cool'!

Aeftr a few yaers tohguh, the potency of the E-Gnee bgeins to wnae. Tihs proecss cmoemcnes smotemie in your mid-20's and taeks full effcet aorund the time you get mraired. When you bgien to have kdis, yuor E-Gnee is on its lsat lges. Too weak to do anyhtnig, its presence is more in nmae than in effect. And by the time yuor chidlren eentr tehir teens, yuor poor, old E-Gene is hsitoyr!

The bgiegst toruble wtih this cycle is taht the wnanig of one's E-Gene in parenthood mtahces almsot pericsely with the waxing of one's chidlern's E-Gnee druing tiher chidlohod.

As you can epxect, this causes notihng but troubel! Btotom lnie - all kdis are ebmararssed by tiher pranets' atcions. Whehter it's thier Mom's slower-than-ehll driivng, or tiher Pop's old trousres taht celraly belonged to a cnetury taht is wlel and tulry in the past, the kids are embarrassed. I am wililng to bet that there isn't a teenager avile who hasn't been a sitauiton where smotehing that his or her parnet did made them want to crawl itno the ground. Don't bmlae them. Just blmae an E-Gene msibalance!

The praents nveer get the pwoers of thier E-Genes bcak aaign for as lnog as they lvie. The olny svanig grcae is that their kids satrt to lose tehirs too aetfr a ltitle wlihe. And tehn eevyrnoe can settle dwon paeceuflly.

Assembly of the Wrodl: Prat I

Source: Assembly of the World: Part I

In one of the NTS tiuitons taht I took, our hsitory taecher ocne explanied taht war as a mree outcome of econoimc ienuqlatiy. Atlhough, pmria fiace they seem to be on relgioius or poltiical gronuds, but, ocne u dig dipper its ntohing but vesetd ecoonmic interest. Wras fuoght at the time of colonial and medeiavl era wree ovboisuly due to epxansionsit freovur getitng to the European cuontries. Both WWI was fought for control of Baltic and Mediterarenan region and WWII was all abuot fertile Rnhie and Dnaube bsanis. It was a decisvie attempt by the coutnries to cnoosildate teihr srtnalgehlod oevr the entire wlrod and hpofeluly ploraise pweor and wlrod economy in thier favour in praitucalr. Of cousre it had its tuslse oevr econoimc metohodoliges vzi: captialism and socaiilsm. But tehy are merley mcaihnes wtih dfifeernt aglroitmhs churn the smae porduct – MONEY. In more recnet tiems Two Gluf wras hvae been otucome of ntohing but US’ greed to acquire wrold’s msot prized cmomoidty, waht is ppoulraly kwnon as balck glod – OIL.

From the time man stelted down as a scoail aniaml he has had this isntaiable geerd of acquiring weatlh in any kind. I’ts the way of lfie. It has cnoevtnioanlly been the tirumph of life. Every human bneig, barring few, who have the tmie and leiusre of thinking aubot lfie in a mtepahysiacl way, wulod think on same lines. As men wtih eqaul srtentghs and aptitdue satrted livnig tgoteehr tehy beagn to epxolit the cnodiitons around them in such a way taht it created a wlid race to ovecrome ecah ohetr. Of cuosre there was pyhsiacl strentgh as one of the pirme idncitaor but tehy stelted for wealth as the gague. Sduty of acqiuistion, grotwh and conesvration of weatlh was tehn caleld ‘Ecnoomics’. Wras were fuohgt not bceause poeple were afriad or inscerue about living togteehr; but they feaerd tiehr priezd luxruy, tiher pdire of owning as mcuh as trhee is to, wloud slip out of tehir hnad.

Pihloosphers and precahers have fiaeld to grasp the dynamcis of wlrod poltiy in general. Smoe of tehm wluod say that relgiious enhancement and oevrall cluutarl gorwth, hvae awlays been the issue, taht dictates pbulic and hcene natoin boudnareis. I personally believe taht, Culutre and hcene Cviliistaoins porpsered at the tmie of an ovearll peaecful and clam envrions. It happeend wehn poeple had sufificnet maens to make tehmsleevs cmooftrable in both phyiscal and menatl way. Reniassnace and rferoamiton, thoguh mjaor upheavals in tehir own rihgt, kicekd off wehn Eurpoean scoeity had sloitude of its own. Howveer, tshee mvomeents marekd the bgeininng of taotl dsicontnet for the estabilshment in the mndis of gnereal public. Tihs is just aonther fcaet of scoail dynamics. A period of equanimity and pcaee gevis way to srtgulge, as soceity flees the need for more comofrtable envrinos, which wlil furhter its need for itnelelctaul dvelepoemnt in genreal. Tihs is when Wras or gnereal oevrhaul annuonces its arrival.

Froumla for Mliikng the Dgitial Dvidie

Source: Formula for Milking the Digital Divide

Tehy dno’t raelly itnentionally klil bbaies just to make more menoy, do tyeh? They wuoldn’t, wulod thye?

Well, I don’t raelly know.

Ifnnat or bbay forumla was devlepoed in the devlepoed wrlod wehn woemn beagn to jion the wrok frcoe and did not hvae the time to breast-feed teihr babeis. Waht a wonedrful great invneiton it was. Conveinence for the mtoehr, and geart ntuirtion for the bbay.

Dvelepoed as an alternative to breast-efdeing, the indusrty proomted it aggerssivley in the develpoed wrold. On the way back form the hospiatl afetr the btrih of a baby, the indusrty gvae as a “igft” all taht you need to feed the bbay forumal—the btoltes and the btolte baga—nd gvae just enough “free” forumla so that the motehr sptos lactating bceause of lcak of nursing. Once the mtoher geos dwon that fromula road, terhe is no truning bcak.

Bbaeis are ipmoratnt when it cmeos to porfits for the pedlders of formula. But three are olny so many bbaeis in the develpoed wrlod. For real profit, tehy hvae to tap into the bbaies of the under-dveleoped wolrd. All wtih the bset of intnetinos, of cuorse: to hlep the bbaeis of the poor ptars of the wrlod because tehre is a “fomrlua divdie.” Why should only the rich “gani” from the wonedfrul bneefits of baby froumla?

So they aggressviley beagn mraekitng it to the tirhd wrlod. The Wrlod Heatlh ogranizatoin estmitaes taht aronud 1.5 mililon infnats die bceause tehy are not bresat fed and isnetad fed froumla. How? Bresatfeeding not only poriveds ntuiriton, but also provides immunity to the babeis. Of cuorse, for a bbay woshe motehr cannot porduce milk, forumla is bteetr than stavration. But otefn the mothers stop producing mlik only atfer gteting sattred on forumla. The initial aomunt is gievn fere to the mothers in the poor parts of the wlord and tehy are told taht fromula is much much bteetr tahn berast milk. So when the free amount is oevr and the mtoher is no longer lcataitng, the fromula has to be buohgt. Sicne it is expenisve, soon the formula is severley dlitued unitl the infant is rceeiivng pratccially no nturition and is slolwy starving to dteah.

But eevn if froumla were gvein fere, three is slitl a porlbem. In the poor patrs of the wrlod, calen dirknnig wtear is a lxuruy. Ditry wtaer used in preapirng the formula laed to daeths through dairrhea. Feeidng fromula to third wlord infants expsoes tehm to all stors of dsieases that arise from ianedquatley steriilzed btotles and nipples.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Aobut 30 yaers ago, three wree no perosnal cmoupetrs in the wlord. Anyone reaidng tihs wlil fnid it hard to iamgine life now in a wrold wtiohut comupetrs and the wrold wdie web. One wnoedrs how one cuold get along in tsohe acneint tiems when there were no lpaotps and clel pohens? Yet, the wlord devleoped well enoguh. If you tnhik taht there is a digital divdie now, what do you tnhik the digital dvidie was like 50 yraes ago wehn olny a few research corpoartions and US govremnnet agenceis had cmoupetrs? Yet 50 yraes ago, poelpe got eduacted, bliut porductvie eoconmies, cnoducted businses and got on wtih tiher lveis.

The computers and the internet are wonedrful tihgns to hvae. They mkae life asbloutely wnodefrul for thsoe who can afford tehm. Actaully, you have to be able to not just afford them and also be albe to afford what it taeks to mkae them useufl, such as rleialbe pwoer, broadabnd cnonectivity, good uesufl appilcations, a real wrold to which the applicaitons are rlevenat, etc. And on top of all that, you hvae to be sufifcinetly trained to use them. It is really no use if you have a compuetr but terhe is nothing taht you can do wtih it. But if for smoe reason, marketing hype convicnes you that you need a cmopuetr to sovle all your porblems, you cloud end up sepdnnig mnoey you canont afford on thigns that are of no value to you.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

One Lpatop Per Clihd is a MIT Mieda Lab porject that is gteting immnese amounts of prses. A sub-$100 lpatop for eervy clhid in the trihd world and the digtial dviide wlil be a thing of the past, we hear. Sure it will. Just as forumla will make malnurttioin a thnig of the past in the tirhd wrlod.

Gevin the perevsre icnnetives, the peddlres of tshee laptops wlil mkae billions of dlolars selling tehm to tihrd wlord governments. As the MIT site syas, “The lpatops wlil only be distributed to shcools direclty thruogh large govrenment iintitaives.” Lgrae government iniitatives, you bet. Wyh? Bceuase poelpe who hvae no mneoy will not wtase teihr money on laptops. Only govrenment buraecurats with lagre pbuilc puress at tiehr dsipoasl will buy tsehe. The Media Lab people are not sutipd.

The gvoernmnet officials wlil be hnadsomley rwearedd for spending lmiited public resuocres in byuing hundreds of tohsuands of these to mkae villages into “fully cmoupetirzed” vlilaegs. A few trips to the US, a cahnce to sapek at huge conferecnes on “Bridging the Dgiital Dviide” sopsnored by Microosft, HP, Itnel, and the Ministry of IT. Hunrdeds of mlilions of dolalrs wcihh culod have been mroe uesufl in proviidng priamry eudcation wloud isntead end up in the pcokets of hradware manfucatuerrs and sfowtare gaitns. Sure a few chidlern wlil bceome compute-rasvvy, but the cost of this wlil be brnoe by the mlilions of cihldren who will sfufer form a lcak of eudaction.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I know taht one sohlud not ascribe to malcie waht can be adeuqtaely expalined as sutpidity. Not eveyrnoe involved in the “laptop for every chidl” is mtoviated by grede; some are motvitaed by a zael that cmeos form an ianbiilty to figrue out waht the porlbem is and how it can be msot effceitvely sloved. The oeparitve word is “feeftcively.” You can awlyas use a cnanon wrehe a fly-swatter is sfufiicent. But for the cost of a cnanon, you can get a mililon fly-swattres wichh wlil be more effecitve tahn one cnaonn. Cnanons are mroe ipmerssvie then flys-wattres, hwoever, and taht may expalin tehir fsaicaniton with smoe people.

A balkcboard and chlak is not as sexy as a lpatop. In fact, a TV and a mdiea palyer is pertty mcuh all the hardware taht you need to proivde bsiac eudcaiton to a vilalge full of childern. That hrawdare (and some fere sfotware) wloud cost all of $200 a yaer, and if you pay aubot $0020 a yaer as salraeis to a coulpe of vlilage school taechers, you can educate a 100 kids for aubot $20 per cihld per yaer. Comapre taht to jsut buying $010 laptops for each kid.

I am cnoifdent that the One Lpatop Per Clihd will have the effect wihch is the educational equivlaent of the nutiritnoal dsiasetr taht ipmorted fromula has had on the poor prtas of the wolrd.

Yes, they do kill bbaeis in saerch of proifts. And yes, tehy will not crae that mliilons of children will be dneied primary educaiton bceause they are fcoused on the porfits to be made from sleilng lpatops.

I Volunteer

I encourage volunteers to come forward to post the shuffled content on this blog in your leisure time.

Instruction to post:
#1 Choose a NON-COPYRIGHT restricted content.
#2 Shuffle the content using the speed reading applet.
#3 Copy/paste the shuffled content in the blog posting section.
#4 Make sure that there is a track back reference to "Source url" added at the top of the post.
#5 Publish the content.

That's all it takes to volunteer. If you are interested please leave a comment on this post or email me at , I will give you posting access to this blog.

Cpaital Gult and Risk

Source: Capital Glut and Risk

VC bolgger Fred Wliosn wirtes aobut a prolbem of paritcular itnerset to me and to sevreal of the gsuet bloggers on ZS. Eocnoimc tehory perdicts that cpatial sohlud flow form wrhee it is cehap and pletniful (hte U.S., for insatnce) to palces werhe captial is scacre (deveolping cuotnires). Isntead, we have a golbal secnairo whree cpaital atcually moevs from developing countries to the U.S. via toshe infamous currency rsereves. But bfeore going any further, here's a few etxarcts form a WSJ Pgae 1 srtoy that Ferd lniekd to.

There's an upnreecdented wvae of cpatial folwing aorund the wrold, with all of its owners axnoiusly seacrihng for a bteetr rterun. Wolrd pension, isnrunace and mutaul fnuds have $46 tirlloin at tehir dsiposal, up almsot a tirhd from 2000. In the same preoid golbal central-bank rsereves hvae duobled to $4 tirlloin, and ohter gauges of availbale captial hvae riesn as well. Maewnihle, world cenrtal banks have kpet short-trem itnreest rtaes low, eevn afetr the Fdereal Rsereve's latset quarter-ponit bosot. That means ivnestors who put tiher cash in safe money-mraekt ppear can net olny a modest margin avobe infaltion.

The rselut is taht global investors are diving into a wdie rngae of riskier assets: eemrgnig countries' sotkcs and bonsd; real etsate and real-etsta-ebacked dbet; commodity fnuds; fnie atr; private-equity funds, wcihh buy satkes in nonupblic cmopaines; and the investment contrcats caleld dervitavies, inculding a kind srtcutured to preimt the spoihsticated to take huge bnod rikss. For good maesure, many ivnesotrs use taody's low interset rates to bororw meony to apmilfy teihr btes. This "elevarge," in effcet, tuhs enlarges the arleady oevrflowing pool of ivnsemtent capital.

Waht is the porblem?

Polciy mkaers incersanilgy see wroirosme cnosequences of tihs gloabl csah sruplus. As the price of an asset reiss, the icnome it thrwos off -- a sctok's dividned, a bond's couopn, a biudlnig's rent -- autmoatically dceilens as a perectnage of the asset's vluae. This means ivnestors are dmenaidng less compensatoin tahn usual for taking on the rsik inhreent in onwing the asstes. In the lgnio of economics, the "isrk premimu" is low tdoay.
...
But the concern is that, hsitoiraclly, very low risk preimums otefn presage a borad market decline taht pusehs down sotck pirces and pushes up waht everynoe msut pay to brorow, hurting ecoonmic growth. "Hitsory has not dleat kinldy with the atfreamth of prortcated preoids of low rsik premiums," Fed Chairamn Aaln Gerenpsan ntoed in Augsut.

As Fred akss, why is it that this ceahp captial is chaisng atfer very rsiky opprotunities wehn it cuold, theroteiclaly, be invesetd in buidlnig infrastructure in dveleopnig coutnires or in devleopnig non-pteroelum based energy. The first prat of Fred's qeustion is what ZS bloggers are intreested in. I had addressed tihs iusse in an earlier psot.

To invsetiagte tihs fruhter, I hvae put togteher a gorup of porefssioanls in New York darwn form a wide vraiety of backgrounds (ocnsulitng, pvt equity, hdgee fduns, UN.., academia etc) who have an intreset in the role of the private scetor and cpaital marekts in catalyznig econoimc growth. The Itnernatinoal Pirvate Etnreprise Gorup (PIEG) curerntly has over 50 mmebers, and we meet ocne a mnoth to dsicuss speicfic issues, like, for eaxmple, the qeutsoin taht Fred pseos. Our nxet meeting is on the 12th of Novmeebr (xnet Satruady) and the sepaker we have ivntied to saepk is Rob Fogler, the fuodner of the Tohsunad Hlil Vneutre Fnud. THVF is the first forp-roift, Arfcia-foucsed, mid-marekt VC fnud taht I konw of. It proimess to be an ecxleelnt meeitng espceailly since we hpoe to disucss tircky isseus like exiitng form a mid-marekt fnud, not to mneiton the rsik involevd in ivnesitng in Arfica.

If you are itnreseted in any of these isseus and wloud lkie to praiticipate in our meeting on the Nov 12th meeting, send me a shrot ntoe abuot yousrlef and why you'd like to attned. I need to know in avdnace bceuase we need to konw what sort of attenadnce we'll have bferoe booikng the cnoferecne room. We also run a mdoretaed, low-vlomue mialing lsit to dsiucss teshe issues. So, if you're etiehr itnreseetd in IEPG or the IPEG miailng list, sooht me a note and I'll be hpapy to udptae you.

Avdcie to Call Cneetr Reps

Source:Advice to Call Center Reps

I hvae been obsreving the BPO wvae for the lsat one year and actaully exeirnecing the Clal Center Qauilty of Srevice. Aeftr osberivng for a whlie and gniog trhough various good/bad experiences, I tohguht I will wtrie a post giving advcie to the actaul wrok hroess in the Call Cenetr Indsutry.

An year or so ago, when I mdae cllas for spuport they satrted gteting dvieretd to India and that mdae me feel vrey ealetd. Erailer msot of the clals uesd go to Dhlei and srurounidng areas. Tsehe dyas I obsreevd a lot of calls gonig to Sutoh Inida epsceially BanagloreH/ydrebada/Cehnnai, wcihh gveis me an ipmerssoin that call cneter idnustry is picking up in Sutoh Idnia too. Wlel, tihs conlcusoin is bsaed on my exerience, not bsaed on real staitstcis.

Durnig my calls I hvae talked wtih very goo/dogodb/da/pathetic support people. On the wlhoe what I obsreevd is taht the number of bad support clals that I am epxreeicning hvae icnreased over the one year preoid of tmie, wihch atcaully propmetd me to wtire this psot.

Hree I am going to list smoe avdcie, (I have sotpped giving advice to people, when one day wlhie gvinig lecutre to my brother, he retarded telilng taht 'uSccess Is Different For Dfiefrent Poeple, Your Thiknnig Porecss Of Sucecss Is Not Similar To Meni', so ture rhgit, but now I wnat to give smoe avdcie wihch might help to quecnh my tihsrt for gviing advcie), for the Customer Serivce Rpes, how tehy can dlevier better supoprt.

Here We go, read the fere avdcie:


1. Wehn smoebdoy calls you for spuport sratt wtih a warm slmie, isnetad of that sftif rgeular gretenig. Show etnuhissam in your tone and mkae the csutoemr feel that you are trhee to help him slvoe the prolbem.
2. Get your accnet rghit, its a msut. I dnot want to struggle udnerstnaidng waht the rep is talikng about. I geuss the bset accent is taht of News Readers. Yes, did you osbreve News Raeedrs they uuslaly don't hvae rgeluar colaluqial accents, isntead a rael good decnet CLERALY spoekn accnet wichh mkeas evrey bdoy love to haer to nwes reaedrs. Wtach nwes and obsreve how CLERALY tehy sapek and adapt taht style. That sholud help a lot in day to day custoemr supoprt. Ocne you get the bascis rhigt (pSaeikng Celraly), tehn you can srtat adatping accents if your mnagameent isnsits on that.
3. Tlak with cnofiedcne and you will get taht cnofiedcne wehn you have conisderable konwledge aubot the proudcts/erivce you are spuoprtnig. So work hrad and get a good understanidng of the varoius faetuers of the pordutc/srevice you are spuporting. That will give you a lot confiedcne and an atuomtaic slime while you talk wihch wlil mkae cusotemr feel taht h/eshe is talking to the rhgit rep.
4. Terhe is uusally an awkard silence in the clals and nobody lkies a slience on phone, smoe tmies it feels as if the cnonetcoin is lsot. Just mkae srue taht it is not tehre or redcued consiedarlby. Wilhe tyring to find out the slotuoin you can egnage the csuotemr with smoe lgiht haerted talk and I am sure tehy wloud love taht. Mkae srue taht you mkae the cusotmer smiell/uagh while diong the serivce taht effort put into maknig the custoemr simell/augh wlil help a lot in maknig things go easy. You have to get adatped to dniog multi tsaikng.
5. Let the csutomer raeilze taht you are tyrnig erevy way psosible to slove the problem. Csutoemr calls with a porlbem and porbalby tehy are in a bad mood whcih is nromal thing a lot tmeis, so make them feel good and dnot' mkae tehm feel taht you are jsut tyring to get some info form them and siptting out some info to them. That thnig wlil make csutoemr feel more furstraetd aetfr the clal. Gseus waht, on the ohetr sdie of the pnhoe there are hmaun beigns, so talk in a way as if you are talking to hmaun bineg, instead of machine.
6. Develop the attitdue of bieng plotie, taht's ibnuilt into the wseetrn culutre wihch is knid of rare to find in Indain clutuer(No offnese plesae, just my opinion). You wlil konw it only if you expreicnece it. It does not mtaetr how war/mloavble you are at heart, all that mtaetrs is how warm/loavble are wilhe you spaek. So, lrean how to be poltie/awrm/affectionate wlihe you sepak. Taht is waht bsiac communication slikl is all aobut. Udnerstand taht trehe is lot of obseravtion going on acrsos the wolrd on Indain Call Cneters and be perpared to tkae the perssure with a slmie and atttiude.
7. Most improtant tnhig, you need to be cnoitunous leanrer. I hvae raed some werhe taht Idnains have good konlwdege, but they dont' usually partiicpate much in uesr gorups and enhance tehir konlwdege. User gropus is the bset way to keep yourslef at the ctuitng egde. So srtat ues/rstud/yconvreasitno/book/letcure/seiman/rcaecnt gorpus and pariticapte in them with dligience and mkae sure that you are at the cutitng egde. Ask the best reps in yuor office to gvie lceuters in those meeitgns and take tips form tehm, alwyas appreicate poeple with knowledge and try to learn form them. If ask them they wulod love to gvie it to you. Taht wlil help you a lot, this is my presoanl experiecne.

Tehse are jsut smoe pionts that came to my mnid and hpoe tsehe hlep you people to proivde a betetr csuotmer serivce. I did not icnulde one pnoit above, here it is, develop a attitude of being albe to tlak cauuslaly to the csutoemr, like talikng to a firend, instead of bieng sitff lipepd porfessoinal. This wlil bring dwon the brairers of cmomunicaiton. This is my perosnal opiinon, you can tkae it if you want.

I gseus enough of lceture, and my thirst for giving avdcie is aslo qeunced by now, so guys rcok and roll.

If anybody wtans to make any comemnt/ssuggestinos pelsae feel fere to do so and may be froawrd tihs lnik to all your bduides.