Links December 4

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Global Macro

  • Pension funds invest too much in bonds, but for more than one reason. Buttonwood
  • News International chief quits, Murdoch empire set to split. Telegraph
  • Delta to buy Singapore’s stake in Virgin Atlantic? As asked recently in Macro Investor, are airline wars heating up? DealBook
  • Why shale success is unlikely to be replicated outside the US. Wall Street Journal
  • Turkey requests Nato defences on Syria chemical attack fears. Guardian

North America

Europe

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  • Europe’s timid budget. The Economist
  • But an (admittedly small) case for Euro optimism. John Dizard
  • George Papandreou’s mum and a €550 million Swiss bank account. Telegraph
  • What will happen after the German elections? Wolfgang Munchau. Answer: nothing.
  • French firms must fight China for stake in Africa: Moscovici. Reuters
  • Iceland said to require Chinese tycoon to reapply for resort permission. Reuters

Asia

  • Sizing up China’s shadow banking sector. Simon Rabinovich. “UBS economist Wang Tao believes it is no smaller than Rmb13.6tn ($2tn), or about one quarter of this year’s gross domestic product, and could be as big as Rmb24.4tn, or nearly 50 per cent of GDP.”
  • The very monetary reasons behind political interest in Japan. Gavyn Davies
  • Forget the good services PMI, China is losing its appetite for fried chicken and pizza, Yum Brands tanks. Wall Street Journal
  • Rehabilitating China’s Loess Plateau. Permaculture News. This could be a breakthrough.

Local

  • Rosella sauce bites the dust! The Australian. It’s definitely on for a rate cut then.
  • Even Michael Pascoe calls for a cut. The Age
  • Meanwhile, the worries go global: Australia’s LNG industry plagued by bottlenecks, labour costs, strong AUD. Financial Times
  • Non-rates/data news #1: CIMB in talks with big four for first Aussie Islamic bond issue. Deal Journal Australia
  • Non-rates/data news #3: Government rules out lowering online GST threshold. The Australian
  • Non-rates/data news #4: Woodside expands offshore… to Israel. Business Day
  • Regional unis and putting the ‘country’ back in the clever country. David Battersby

Interesting/Other

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  • Will philanthropy save Britain’s universities? Aeon
  • Can this Sino-Finnish start-up really challenge the iPhone/Android duopoly? Quartz
  • Wan ‘Broken Tooth’ Kwok-koi released from Macau jail. Financial Times