Levi Strauss. Does the name ring a bell? Not to be confused with the French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, Levi Strauss was a German Jew who made a killing in the California gold rush. One detail: he wasn’t a gold miner. He used to make jeans for the miners; they were really comfortable to work in despite being tough enough to withstand those conditions Since it was a gold rush, there was a lot more hope than there was gold. Our man Strauss cashed in on that. He was banking not on the gold, but the hope for it. You might even be wearing one of his right now. Levi’s jeans.
This model is referred to during a lot of bubbles. A lot of people who didn’t believe in the 90s DotCom bubble did, nevertheless, set up incubators for startups and made money off them. Property traders, even the ones aware of the transient nature of a property bubble, do this. Smart money, as the great economist Keynes pointed out, follows dumb money.
Elections should be seen in that context. Those blaming Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for singing songs for both PTI and PML-N are being unfair. It is like blaming a TV channel or newspaper for running ads for both these parties. Levi Strauss, man.
As the comedian Dave Chappelle said: “I’ve done commercials for Coke and Pepsi. I don’t give a [expletive] what comes out of my mouth. I say what it takes. Whatever it takes. If you wanna know the truth, can’t even taste the difference. All I know is, Pepsi paid me most recently so… it tastes better.”