THE TALK
John Maynard Keynes, an oft-quoted but less-read economist, is said to have remarked: ‘If you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem. But if you owe your bank a million pounds, it has.’ The Economist, a few years ago came up with the modern-day version of what Keynes had said: ‘If you owe your bank a billion pounds everybody has a problem’.
Indian banks at their peak had non-performing assets of over Rs 10 lakh crore. Most of it were defaults made by corporate moneybags. How did they get there? And how does this impact the lives of average Indians? Kaul talks about this and much more.
Vivek’s Talk is based on his new book ‘Bad Money — Inside the NPA Mess and How It Threatens the Indian Banking System.’
Vivek Kaul, Author , Columnist
Vivek Kaul is one of India’s foremost and the most popular commentators on economics and finance. He is renowned to explain highly complex things in simple, easy-to-understand terms. He has worked at senior positions with the Daily News and Analysis (DNA) and The Economic Times, in the past. He is a commentator on the Indian economy and currently his writing appears regularly in the Mint, BBC, Dainik Jagran, Newslaundry and Bangalore Mirror. He is also the author of five books. His fifth book Bad Money – Inside the NPA Mess and How It Threatens the Indian Banking System is a great read to understand how did bad loans reach such gigantic proportions and the roles that corporates played.
The Hindu had this to say about Kaul and Easy Money: “This indigenous writer has written a book which is truly global in every sense. We would take the liberty of placing him in the same league as a Niall Ferguson or a Peter Bernstein, even though this is Vivek Kaul’s first book.”
Al Ries, globally respected author and marketing consultant had this to say about Easy Money: “Forget what you think you know about money and read the true, absorbing tale told by Vivek. Kaul in his thorough, but fascinating book, Easy Money. A great read.”
Other than this, he has appeared as an expert on the BBC, Mirror Now, CNBC Awaaz and NDTV India. He speaks regularly on economics and finance and has lectured at IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Vishakhapatnam, NMIMS, SIMSREE, TAPMI and the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, among others, in the past.
