Links 14 February 2014

Global Macro/ Markets:

• Who did it better: Ben Bernanke or Mario Draghi? – CNBC
• Why Gold Will Eventually Be Almost Worthless – Daily Finance
• Bitcoin exchanges suspend conversions as hacker attack intensifies – The Guardian

North America:

• Fire and Ice: The Craziest Photo From the Storm in the South – Slate
• Retail Sales decreased 0.4% in January – Calculated Risk
• Blackstone-Fueled Single-Family Home Boom Lifts Chicago – Bloomberg
• U.S. Army Considers Replacing Thousands of Soldiers With Robots – ieee.org
• Did Canada Just Pop It’s Housing Bubble? – Zero Hedge

Europe:

• Banks that badly fail ECB test should be closed-Eurogroup head – Reuters
• UK storms and floods show climate change is upon us – The Guardian

Asia:

• Abe’s ‘womenomics’ needs revolution not evolution – Financial Times
• Ruble Declines Fifth Day on Crude Oil, Australia Growth Concern – Bloomberg
• China banks’ bad loan ratio hits two-year high – Reuters
• Claims Beijing uninhabitable ‘exaggerated’ – Global Times

Local:

• Rising jobless the “Achilles heel” of economic recovery – The AFR
• How to fix the jobless crisis – The AFR
• Remove hurdles to employment – The Australian
• Abbott turns IR from liability to potential weapon – The AFR
• No Industry Minister would be a good thing – The AFR
• Meriton set on $300 million land buying spree – The AFR
• Abbott tells ALP to “get out of the way” after jobless surge – The Australian
• Coalition plans “are answer to rising jobless rate” – The Guardian
• Trade deals slash car tariffs – The Australian
• Hockey floats $130 billion asset sale – The Age
• Joe Hockey’s rising tide strategy: will Australia sink or swim? – The Guardian
• Manufacturing is declining, but it is still a vital cog – The Guardian

Other:

• How to Survive the Next Wave of Technology Extinction – New York Times