Happy new year to everyone and best wishes for 2025! This week’s links include a conversation with Alok Sama that draws from his recently published book “The Money Trap,” an underappreciated aspect of Manmohan Singh’s legacy, some interesting recent articles on Japan’s ever-tightening labour market, Hosking Partners on the state of ESG heading into 2025, Veronica Rappoport on inflation, price caps and some of the lessons from Argentina, and a wide-ranging discussion on investing and markets with Dan Rasmussen of Verdad Advisers.

• Blume Ventures: Masa, mergers, and making it big ft. Alok Sama, SoftBank’s deal whisperer.
• The 1991 Project: Manmohan Singh – India’s finest talent scout.
• Hosking Partners: The state of ESG heading into 2025.
• Bloomberg: Japanese companies are battling to recruit new hires (for more on Japan’s labour market tightness, also see this somewhat bizarre SCMP article about Lawson, a Japanese retailer, now hiring remote cashiers living overseas).
• All Else Equal: The truth about inflation and price caps – lessons from Argentina with Veronica Rappoport, former second deputy governor of the Central Bank of Argentina.
• Merryn Talks Money: The ‘humble’ investor says sell private equity, sell US tech, buy Polish small caps.