Global Macro:
- Special report on Norway’s evolving national nest-egg. Financial Times
- The return of Dr Strangelove. Could austerity drive America towards ‘cheaper’ nuclear and cyber-based defence capabilities? The Diplomat. Interesting implications for geopolitics.
Geopolitics
- Signs of detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran? Asia Times
- Signs of dependence between China and Pakistan? Business Recorder (Islamabad)
United States:
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- Romney or Obama, government won’t, can’t shrink. Larry Summers
- Potato lunchbox war proves just how ridiculous (and interest-dominated) Congress has become. Der Spiegel. Thank God Australia’s politicians operate at a higher level…
- It’s official: America’s wealthy are a bunch of misers and WASP-ish New England is the worst. NPR
- The exception though are Mormons, and in Romney’s Massachusettes LDS church he shared that generosity. Washington Post
- The Catholics are also generous, but the Church itself is having a financial crisis. The Economist
Europe:
- How France is killing French industry. Der Spiegel. Viva la protectionisme.
- The origins of specie: what Cartalist theories say about the future of the Euro. The Economist
Asia:
- Economists weigh a Chinese hard landing. Financial Times. Echoes of what we have been writing in MacroInvestor.
- Bo Xilai’s wife given suspended death sentence. The Guardian
- But conveniently China is distracted by Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. South China Morning Post
- And right-wing idiots in Japan are also using this as their cause celebre. Japan Times
- But at least the Spratleys won’t be China’s “Sudetenland.” The Diplomat
- More China links in the daily post from Sinocism
Local:
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- Yancoal halts expansion. Business Day. The beginning of the end for Australia’s fixed-capital investment boom?
- Pension fund consortium won’t match Hastings offer. The Australian. Suddenly infrastructure investment in Australia isn’t so sexy.
- Don’t tell Santos, who sees Australia as a shale gas hub. Wall Street Journal
- Bluescope hammered by construction costs. Financial Review. Lower demand for steel will hammer it as well.
- Brokers E.L. & C. Baillieu and F.W. Holst merge. Business Day
- Labor MP calls for misleading reporters to be fined or banned. The Australian. How on earth do you police this?
- Former Securency CFO enters plea bargain. Financial Review
Other:
- The human body is the product of 23,000 genes, yet it hosts a further 3m through microbes. The Economist. Through understanding this, the potential for medicine is extraordinary.
- In Pakistan, 11-year-old girl with Down’s syndrome accused of blasphemy. BBC. Is Pakistan the epitome of a broken society?
- Engineer, 63, hailed as ‘last ninja’. Japan Times