Weekly Wrapup: Explainers Galore
In this week's wrapup, we talk about the economics of vaccine nationalism, some interesting topics from RBI's Financial Stability Report, why gold prices are rising so much, why China is importing huge quantities of Iron Ore from India, and the widely discussed National Education Policy 2020.
How Manappuram is beating the current crisis?
The pandemic has dealt a death blow to most companies. However, there are still tiny pockets in the Indian market ecosystem, where certain niche companies have managed to flourish and thrive despite the crippling effects of the lockdown.
So in today’s Finshot Markets, we look at Manappuram Finance Limited (MFL) and it’s stellar performance so far. Read the full draft here
The Economics of Vaccine Nationalism
On Monday, we talked about vaccine nationalism. The United States government recently signed a $1.95 billion agreement with Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech, securing 100 million doses of their coronavirus vaccine for its citizens.
In ordinary circumstances, this move would have been unusual. After all, governments seldom bet on vaccines that haven’t yet received regulatory approval. But these aren’t ordinary circumstances and we aren’t developing a regular vaccine. Covid-19 has shown no signs of abating and governments are being forced to expedite the process of vaccine development.
So how are they doing this? And what will it lead to? Find out here.
Cool Nuggets from the Financial Stability Report
On Tuesday, we covered some interesting bits from the Financial Stability Report. Every 6 months the Reserve Bank of India releases this rather interesting document, in which it elaborates on the trends & progress in the banking system of India.
However, considering we are in the midst of a global pandemic right now, the FSR had a lot more to offer. And you can read some interesting bits regarding moratoriums, debt levels and emerging market risks here.
Understanding the Gold Rally
On Wednesday, we talked about the gold rally that's pushing prices to record levels. As coronavirus stalls imports and crushes income across the board, we’ve seen a sharp decline in the physical demand for gold in China and India- the world’s biggest buyers of gold bars, coins and jewellery.
But despite this, the pandemic is driving the biggest, baddest rally the gold market has ever seen. Globally, gold prices have risen over 18% in 2020 — the highest since 2011. So how did we get here and why is this happening now? Find out here.
China's Zombie Steel
On Thursday, we discussed why China has been importing record amounts of iron ore from India. China’s purchases of iron ore from India rocketed to an 8-year high in the first half of 2020, and shipments of the raw material from India more than doubled to 20 million tons in the 6 months through June from a year earlier.
Now, as China's economy slowly gets back up, it makes sense to beef up their iron ore stockpile. But then again, there's not a lot of demand for steel right now. So what's behind the crazy import numbers? Find out here.
The National Education Policy 2020
On Friday, we dissected the National Education Policy. It’s been 34 years since India has had any major reforms in its education system. But on Wednesday, after 6 years of deliberation, the National Education Policy (NEP) was finally unveiled. So in our excitement, we went beyond our usual 3-minute newsletter to write two articles on it!
Our first article talks about the policy and what changes it brings, and the second one goes beyond the usual mandate and explores what the policy is actually trying to achieve. Have fun reading them!
And that's a wrapup. Have a great weekend!
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