China, Carbon Markets, and Climate Change

When I was a postgraduate student studying public policy in Singapore back in 2015, I took a class on the Economics and Governance of Climate Change. I remember writing a paper on Sino-US tensions on climate action, adaptation, and mitigation which included commentary on China’s attempts at establishing a carbon market. Here is an excerpt

The Internet Did Not Melt Down

Picture this. It is a sunny Sunday afternoon (H/T to The Kinks) You are on the couch and fighting off a nap because you are too tired to get up and go to the bedroom. (Taking a nap should not take work, but fate is cruel) The couch is comfortable, but not comfortable enough that

Always (Shamelessly) Plug

Something really cool happened last week. A newsletter from a business journalism website that I subscribe to spoke about India’s approach to keeping interest rates low, to stimulate the economy, is creating high levels of inflation. Parallels were drawn between India’s approach and the monetary expansion (or overdrive, as some might call it) approved by

When The Chips Are Down, Start a Technology Race

It does sound a wee bit unfair to say that developed economies should have exercised better foresight in preempting a ‘capability concentration’ during this semiconductor shortage, especially given we are talking about the building blocks of the digital economy.

It is understandable that these large economies want to be a part of the semiconductor story, even if it means a geopolitical song-and-dance.

But it makes for an interesting story about how an unassuming man in his 50s turned the semiconductor industry on its head.

ThisIsWater – Reflection #1

I had originally intended to write a reflection post sometime in April, after I had published around six posts on my blog.

Better sense prevailed alongside the realisation that half a dozen posts is a rather small sample, particularly for a first-time blogger, to draw any meaningful insight out of. 

It has been a little under 3 months and I have written a dozen posts, this is that another time I was talking. The bonus for waiting is I may possibly have something that might be worthwhile to write about.

The Elders of the Internet

I am not sure how many of you are fans of ‘The IT Crowd’, the British sitcom starring Richard Ayoade (Moss), Katherine Parkinson (Jen), Chris O’Dowd (Roy), who are employees at the IT department of the fictional Reynholm Industries. If you have seen enough of the show, you will know that it presumes hyperbolic levels

One Man’s Savings Is Another Man’s Debt

How a ‘Global Saving Glut’ is inadvertently causing an overall economic stasis, and increasing household debt

Code and Common Sense

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen” “I was in my car on my way to a new job in Seattle. I put the gas in, put the key in, and then I let it run. I just imagined what the day would be like. A hundred years

Is evolution just nature on auto-pilot?

Natural selection is nature on auto-pilot. Life evolves, heads in a direction towards survival, and does not require any deliberate adaptation within the rules of ‘selection’. It has the semblance of a self-contained system where the means for survival is available to the species without active participation. Or is that not fully representative of the situation?

Why we are who we are

Are we generous because we are inherently generous? Or is it restricted to specific circumstances where we are generous than normal? To root it to our individual realities, it could be useful to check if any patterns emerge from our community efforts. A better marker for this endeavour could include acts of kindness towards friends,