On today's episode, I am interviewing James Crabtree, who is currently the executive director of the Asia branch of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Asia. James was previously the bureau chief for the Financial Times in Mumbai and it was in that capacity that he wrote the fantastic book The Billionaire Raj, which I read and reviewed last year. India is very much at a political and economic crossroads at the moment, and the level of analysis that James Crabtree provides in his book is very enlightening. I was super excited to speak to James about the country and those massive changes. 

In fact, a lot has happened since I interviewed James in December 2022, not least of which the news in the last few weeks regarding Gautam Adani, an Indian billionaire and one of the richest men in the world, whose business empire came under unprecedented attack by short sellers in the market. This was prompted by a report issued by the investment research firm Hindenburg Research, which accused the Adani Group of fraud. Over a matter of days Gautam Adani's business empire lost around $100 billion in valuation. So it seems that the extraordinary wealth of this billionaire class can occasionally be accompanied by very rapid falls in wealth as well. 

Find James Crabtree: 

The International Institute for Strategic Studies: https://www.iiss.org/people/directing-staff/james-crabtree 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamescrabtree

Buy The Billionaire Raj: https://amzn.eu/d/1j1anpC

Follow me @litwithcharles for more book reviews and recommendations!