Links 26 August 2013

Global Macro/Markets:

• At a Fed Conference, Views Differ Sharply on Stimulus’s Effect – New York Times
• Bitcoin’s complex and changing regulatory environment – PandoDaily
• A forensic analysis of global imbalances – Econbrowser
• What determines the return on gold? – Noah Opinion

North America:

• Ecstatic homebuilders having trouble selling homes – what’s wrong with this picture? – Sober Look
• Comments on New Home Sales – Calculated Risk
• 5% 30 Year Mortgage Rates? – Calculated Risk
• Fed Burned Once Over Taper Now Twice Shy on QE3 – Bloomberg
• This Age of Bubbles – New York Times
• Study Suggests Shift in Fed Bond-Buying – New York Times
• Low inflation mystery could be a hitch in Fed’s plans – Reuters
• Welcome To The Housing Recovery: Rents Are Rising, Incomes Are Falling – ZeroHedge
• How the Federal Reserve can taper without killing the housing market – CNNMoney

Europe:

• UK Greenbelt housing doubles in a year – The Telegraph
• Is Europe still in crisis? – The Telegraph
• UK economy expands faster than expected – The Guardian

Asia:

• China Only BRIC Country Currently Worthy of the Title -O’Neill – Wall Street Journal
• How India got its funk – The Economist
• The end of cheap US cash claims another victim: Indonesia – Sober Look
• How bad is India’s economic and financial crisis? – Marginal Revolution
• When Fed officials want to understand the Chinese financial system, they meet Charlene Chu – Wall Street Journal
• Is Southeast Asia Headed for a Repeat of the Late 1990s Financial Crisis? – The Diplomat

Local:

• Things a PM should do but won’t – The AFR
• Superannuation savings squandered – The AFR
• Tax base threat to living standards – The AFR
• Health minister rejects rent-seeking pharmacists – The AFR
• Lend Lease bullish on housing – The Australian. So’s Mirvac – The Australian

Other:

• What is shadow banking? – VOX
• Is there a future for international banks? – VOX
• Brazil Steps Up Currency Intervention to $60 Billion – Bloomberg
• Brazil to launch $60bn currency programme – Financial Times
• Groundwater Contamination May End the Gas-Fracking Boom – Scientific American