Links 4 April 2013

Global Macro/Markets:

• The Bitcoin Bubble and the Future of Currency – medium.com
• The problem with Bitcoin – Financial Times
• When memory becomes money; the story of Bitcoin so far – Financial Times
• Four Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy Bitcoins – Forbes
• Banks take bearish view on yellow metal – Financial Times

North America:

• How the Fed fueled an explosion in subprime auto loans – Reuters
• Obama administration pushes banks to make home loans to people with weaker credit – Washington Post

Europe:

• Kid gloves approach for Swiss regulation – Financial Times
• BofE reports Q1 rise in availability of credit to both households and corporates – Bank of England
• UK considers cut in minimum wage – Financial Times
• Number of Britons on ‘zero hours’ contracts hits record high – The Telegraph
• Euro area inflation down to 1.7% – European Union

Asia:

• WMPs and China’s shadow banking whack-a-mole game – FT Alphaville
• Korean tension and the market: charted – Financial Times
• Andy Xie Column: The BRICS Countries Take Their Turn at Bat – Caixin
• China confirms more bird flu cases – Financial Times
• China regulator wants stronger supervision of financial products – Reuters
• China’s fishy data exposed – The Age

Local:

• Will Abbott really ‘axe the tax’? – Business Spectator
• WTF? Rail freight industry pays carbon tax but road freight doesn’t – ARA
• Stopping leakage of funds to rich is a super idea – The Age
• Super pain, little gain for Labor – The Australian
• Rio to sell coal operations – The Australian
• Mining tax a mystery: Treasury – The Age
• Housing recovery far from home and hosed – The AFR

Other:

• The Great British class calculator: What class are you? – BBC