Wall Street investor, author, fund manager and political commentator Ruchir Sharma, who is now the Chairman of Rockefeller International and Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Breakout Capital, an investment firm focused on emerging markets, will be the guest at Express Adda in Mumbai on Monday.
Known for the way he joins the dots between politics, economy and global affairs to identify emerging patterns and better focus on the big picture, Sharma has written extensively on the global economies, giving deep insights about their growth and slowdown. His observations are keenly followed by policy makers and governments across the world, including India.
In his best-seller ‘Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles’ and other books, Sharma has made a compelling argument for which nations will thrive, and which will falter, in a global economy reshaped by the crisis of 2008. “No one can forecast the next century with any credibility and, more importantly, be held accountable for it,” he says in the book.
Sharma had moved to Rockefeller in 2022 after a 25-year career at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he was Head of Emerging Markets and Chief Global Strategist.
At the Express Adda, he will be in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express group, and Shyamal Majumdar, Editor, Financial Express. He is likely to share his views on the latest global and national economic trends post the Covid-19 pandemic and when inflation and interest rates are at elevated levels – all in the run-up to general elections in 2024.
“My disappointment with India as somebody who loves this country so much that even if my base is New York, at the slightest excuse I come to India, is that I wish we were much more of an economic success story. I wish our politicians thought much more about giving people economic freedom,” Sharma had said in an Express Adda in September 2020. “But unfortunately, I don’t think it’s just about this government, but at a state level what this episode has shown me, including the pandemic, is the incredible ability to hoard power. You don’t want to give up power, that is such an obsession, and you have so many supremos at the state level as well,” he said.
He is passionate about politics and has covered every national election in India, and many major state contests, going back to 1998. He led the first trip with three journalist friends, and the pack has since grown to 20 regulars and a few guest travellers. They typically travel over 1,000 miles over a week, and have interviewed everyone from local voters to national leaders, including Narendra Modi and the Gandhis. These travels are captured in his 2019 book, Democracy on the Road: a 25-year Journey Through India.
“Ruchir Sharma is a shrewd and thoughtful observer of emerging markets. His insights deserve the attention of all who care about the future of the global economy,” former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence H Summers wrote about Sharma.
Sharma’s other interests include athletics and he continues to train for the 100 and 200-meters sprints. No matter where he is in the world, or how hectic his schedule is, he tries not to miss a single day of training. In 2011, he represented India in the World Masters Athletic championship in Sacramento. He also has a keen interest in wildlife and cinema and attends international film festivals when he can find a moment away from investing, writing and running.
Based in New York and Miami, he typically spends one week every month travelling the world, visiting different countries, meeting with leading politicians, CEOs, and other local characters, who populate his writing. He is a contributing opinion writer at The Financial Times. His work has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and Foreign Policy. Sharma is the author of ‘Breakout Nations’, a 2012 international bestseller, ‘The Rise and Fall of Nations’, a 2016 New York Times bestseller, ‘Democracy on the Road’, 2019, and most recently ‘The 10 Rules of Successful Nations’, 2020.
The Express Adda is a series of informal interactions organised by The Indian Express Group and features those at the centre of change. Previous guests at the Adda include External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Housing and Urban Affairs and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, motivational strategist Gaur Gopal Das and, most recently, filmmaker Karan Johar.
Source : Indian Express