Links 30 April 2014

North America:

• How Congress Is Actually Holding Down Medicare Spending – New York Times
• Case-Shiller: Comp 20 House Prices increased 12.9% year-over-year in February – Calculated Risk
• Zell Says Homeownership Rate to Fall as Marriages Delayed – Bloomberg
• Washington Tries to Solve the Mortgage Riddle – Bloomberg
• Which states are working to legalize marijuana next? – VOX
• The Perennial Myth Of Crumbling Infrastructure – Zero Hedge
• Americans agree inequality has grown, but don’t agree on why – Pew Research

Europe:

• Putin may reconsider Western role in energy projects – CNBC
• UK Gross Domestic Product Preliminary Estimate, Q1 2014 – ONS
  
• The ECB betting on “creditless” recovery – Sober Look
• This cash for grouse scandal shows how Britain has become a plutocrats’ paradise – The Guardian
• Price of 3-bedroom house in prime London areas ’has risen £729 a day’ – The Guardian
• Bank of England prepares stress tests to ensure banks can survive housing crash – The Guardian

Asia:

• India needs a jolt – and Modi is a risk worth taking – Financial Times
• Zombies once destroyed Japan’s economy—now they’re infecting China’s – Quartz
• China denies declaring war on Christians after mega-church is razed – The Telegraph

Local:

• Debt levy class war – The AFR
• A tax by any other name – The AFR
• Tax hike sparks fear and loathing within Coalition – The AFR
• Coalition’s levy a taxing issue – The AFR
• Debt levy will drive tax avoidance – The AFR
• Short-term deficit plug does not fill a long-term hole – The AFR
• Banks closed to 3 million Australians – The AFR
• Fee urged for well-off public schools – The AFR
• PPL faces defeat: Nationals – The AFR
• PM drops PPL cut-off – The Australian
• Families facing $50 billion hit – The Australian
• Is the Coalition a reformer or a fixer? – The Australian
• Captain’s call to quell PPL mutiny – The Australian
• ACT looks to extend rail link – Canberra Times
• Deficit tax political suicide – Canberra Times
• Baby boomers have nowhere to go on housing – Canberra Times
• Debt levy facing defeat in Senate – The Guardian
• Pretending debt levy not a tax insulting to voters – The Guardian
• Abolishing RET offers long-term pain – The Guardian

Other:

• To Divide the Rent, Start With a Triangle – New York Times
• The top 1 percent is 98 percent male – VOX