Hi all.. unfortunately it’s going to be a single post weekend. Both Gunna and myself are otherwise engaged with end of year responsibilities.
Global Macro / Markets:
- Bitcoin 2.0 gives the dreamers focus — but only without the hype – FT
- Brent Drops From 4-Year Low as Saudi Discounts Deepen Price War – Bloomberg
- Here Is Oil’s Next Leg Down – Ilargi
- Brent Heads for 5-Year Low as Saudi Discounts Spur Competition – Bloomberg
- Will Cheap Oil Lead to Big Mergers? – WSJ
- Signs of weakness below the surface of the stock market. – Trade feed
- Why low volatility seems to work. – Business Week
- A short-list for the charts of the year. – Quartz
- The Fed and the ECB view the oil shock differently. – Gavyn Davies , The Upshot
Americas:
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- US oil reserves at highest since 1975 – FT
- Weekly initial unemployment claims continue to trend below 300k. – Calc Risk
- Marchers again swarm New York to protest death at hands of police – Reuters
- N.Y. Police Chokehold Evidence to Stay Secret as Protests Spread – Bloomberg
- Obama to announce choice of Ash Carter for defense chief Friday: White House – Reuters
- Boehner vows to avoid government shutdown with help from Democrats – Reuters
- JPMorgan Said to Place U.S. Mortgage Securities Trader on Leave – Bloomberg
Europe:
- ECB paralyzed by split as irreversible deflation trap draws closer – Telegraph
- The ECB winter of discontent – Bruegel
- Juncker’s Sound of Silence – Project Syndicate
- Will Russia, Germany save Europe from war? – Pepe Escobar
- Ukraine’s forgotten security guarantee: The Budapest Memorandum – DW
- Bank of Russia Ramps Up Ruble Support – WSJ
- British workers suffer biggest real-wage fall of major G20 countries – Guardian
- ECB’s Weidmann says monetary policy too expansive for Germany – Reuters
- Bundesbank slashes German growth forecast for next year – FT
Asia:
- Can Japan Reboot? – Project Syndicate
- Hong Kong Protesters Considering Retreat – WSJ
- China Bad-Loan Level Seen Understated After Economy Slows – Bloomberg
Local:
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- Richo the next man in the sights of ICAC – SMH
- Prime Minister Tony Abbott is feeling the heat after a ‘ragged’ year – SMH
- PM’s office halted Hockey – TheOz
- Australia’s most expensive apartment – SMH
- Australian wage growth hits a wall – Business Day .. Slowly, but surely they are waking up .. Just 2 years two late
- RBA does the interest rate cut 3 step – The Pascometer
- Rio’s remarkable ‘aluminum revival’ – AFR
- Fantastic year for property if rates cut – AFR – Face Palm !
- Why do pollies struggle in business ? – AFR
- Palmer firm charged over toxic spill – The Oz
Other Random:
Science & Environment:
- The Long Road to Maxwell’s Equations (Spectrum)
- 2014 is on track to be warmest year yet: Five images that explain what’s happening (Sciencemag)
- How we dodged a solar doomsday (Cosmos)
- Policy: Twenty tips for interpreting scientific claims (Nature)
- Natural gas: The fracking fallacy (Nature)
- ‘Superbugs’ Kill India’s Babies and Pose an Overseas Threat (NY Times)
- The Next Big Climate Question: Will India Follow China? (NY Times)
- Bugs in Manhattan Compete With Rats for Food Refuse (NY Times)
- The Fracking Boom Could Burn Out Decades Before It’s Supposed To (Smithsonian)
- The Last Chance to Save the Planet? An Analysis of the Geoengineering Advocacy Discourse in the Public Debate (Pdf) (Environmental Humanities)
- 2014 To Be Hottest Year Ever Measured – Scientific American
- Alaska Shows No Signs of Rising Arctic Methane – NASA
Technology & Medicine:
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- Printing the future (Cosmos)
- Blood test may be key to Alzheimer’s treatment (Cosmos)
- The crystals that can clean the planet (Cosmos)…an Australian…
- NASA’s Mission to Mars Starts Here (Atlantic)
- LIFE SENTENCE: NOW MORE THAN EVER, PEOPLE ARE RECOVERING FROM LIFE-THREATENING ILLNESSES. BUT SURVIVAL IS NEVER SIMPLE. (Maisonneuve)
- Cuba’s extraordinary global medical record shames the US blockade (Guardian)
- Do Police Body Cameras Actually Work? (Atlantic)
- Japanese asteroid probe sets off on six-year journey (Reuters)
- Orion, Dragons and Dream Chasers: What’s behind modern spaceship design? (Reuters)
- Vivid Paintings That Shape-Shift as You Walk by Them (Wired)
- How Sensors That Test Our Stress Could Revolutionize Product Design (Wired)
- The Next Era of Designers Will Use Data as Their Medium (Wired)
- Why we should mine the moon (Conversation)
- Asteroids could wipe out humanity, warn Richard Dawkins and Brian Cox (Telegraph)
- Inside the Dynomak: A Fusion Technology Cheaper Than Coal (Spectrum)
- How red wine prevents cancer (Science daily)
- Draft guidelines aim to end prostate cancer test confusion (The Conversation)
History & Society:
- The Odd History of the First Erotic Computer Game (Atlantic)
- Why the Scientist Who Unravelled DNA Is Selling His Nobel Prize (Atlantic)
- The Global Geography of Internet Addiction (Atlantic)
- John Harvey Kellogg Believed Light Could Cure Diabetes (Atlantic)
- Why Our Memory Fails Us (NY Times)
- Is Stephen Hawking right? Could AI lead to the end of humankind? (Conversation)
- Marks on an ancient shell lead to are-think of human history (Conversation)
- World’s Oldest Art Identified in Half-Million-Year-Old Zigzag (National Geographic)
- The Law Firm That Works with Oligarchs, Money Launderers, and Dictators (Vice)
- WHEN MOMMY AND DADDY TOOK THE TOYS AWAY (Narratively)
- THE SECRET HISTORY OF A KENNEDY ENCOUNTER (Narratively)
- Why doctors fail (Guardian)
- Mapped: The world’s most corrupt officials (Telegraph)
- The Question of Edward Snowden (NYRoB)
- When G.M. Was Google (New Yorker)
- Yesterday’s News (New Yorker)…good read about how quickly news dates…
- Cyber espionage ring seeking to game stock market by stealing corporate secrets, researchers say (Guardian)
- The case against human rights (Guardian)
- Human Ancestors Were Consuming Alcohol 10 Million Years Ago (Discover)
- Bad-Mannered Russians in the West (NY Times) …interesting read but she missed the point; the wrong Russians were incorporated…
- Wheat People vs. Rice People: Why Are Some Cultures More Individualistic Than Others? (NY Times)
- We need to talk about the growing cost of sending off a loved one (The Conversation)…it does seem inordinately expensive…
Meanwhile back at the ranch: