This was an extraordinary week – Trump’s surprise victory over Clinton clearly dominated all news. In this context, there are two non-election stories that I recommend.
India’s demonetization moves.
In an extraordinarily surprising move, the Indian government announced that all existing 500 and 1000 Rupee currency notes would cease to be legal tender almost with immediate effect. The step is aimed at reducing corruption, bringing back India’s black money into the official economy and also strike a blow against terrorism who have developed huge caches of currency using counterfeiting and other moves. Some estimates place India’s parallel economy at 110% of its normal economy. The objectives are laudable but the execution of this extreme step is challenging and painful. Yet it has the potential for extraordinary impact in the medium and long term. Regardless of the outcome, a host of emerging countries will be watching how things unfold for lessons that can be learnt. The following are two articles that I liked that provide good information on this topic.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37906742
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-11-09/india-gets-rid-of-cash-too-soon
Office Gossip:
Office Gossip can be a real killer to a work environment. Yet it isn’t just the employees who gossip who can be blamed for the situation. Organizational leaders for a penchant for excessive secrecy are also contributors to this. This article from Harvard Business Review is a good read on this topic.