Links 2 May 2014

Global Macro / Markets:

North America:

• Why Only One Top Banker Went to Jail for the Financial Crisis – New York Times
• U.S. Close to Bringing Criminal Charges Against Big Banks – New York Times
• How Not to Be Misled by the Jobs Report – New York Times
• Envisioning the End of Employer-Provided Health Plans – New York Times
• Changed Life of the Poor: Better Off, but Far Behind – New York Times
• Big Banks Erred Widely on Troubled Mortgages, U.S. Regulator Confirms – New York Times
• 4 ways to stop the U.S. from becoming a Piketty-style oligarchy – Washington Post
• The meteoric, costly and unprecedented rise of incarceration in America – Washington Post
• Enrollment in Student-Debt Forgiveness Programs Soars in 2014 – Wall Street Journal
• Solid U.S. consumer spending buoys growth outlook – Reuters

Europe:

• How the Russian economy has taken a turn for the worse – The Guardian
• A Weaker Euro for a Stronger Europe by Martin Feldstein – Project Syndicate
• Annual house price growth reaches double-digits – The Telegraph
• So, you thought London house prices were barmy… – Financial Times
• Young workers hit hardest by unprecedented fall in wages – The Guardian

Asia:

• Bloomberg’s folly – CJR.org
• China’s Alibaba could reclaim some of its payments spinoff Alipay – Wall Street Journal
• China ‘tried to suppress’ economic report – Financial Times
• Yangtze River Delta Leads Softening of Housing Market – Caixin Online

Local:

• Middle class welfare crackdown – The AFR
• Making the welfare state affordable – The AFR
• Madness – and some sense – The AFR
• It’s time to act and act like adults – The AFR
• Wealthy to pay for own healthcare costs – The AFR
• Government urged to sell assets, scrap industry aid – The AFR
• Families face severe cuts – The Australian
• A baby step in the right direction – The Australian
• Path to viable, efficient nation – The Australian
• Bush slams Abbott’s PPL – The Australian
• States return to GST battle – The Australian
• Audit Commission tells public servants to take one for the nation – Canberra Times
• Tax: The flaw at the heart of the Audit Commission – Canberra Times
• Minimum wage attacked in Audit Commission – Canberra Times
• Wounds too deep for ‘band-aid’ debt levy – Canberra Times
• Great savings governments will reject – Business Spectator
• Why Commission of Audit’s Budget assumptions are totally implausible – Business Spectator
• A plan of grand ambition, not austerity – Business Spectator
• Audit Commission braces for backlash – The Guardian
• 15,000 public sector jobs could go – The Guardian
• Cormann: The age of opportunity – The Guardian

Other:

• Why weather could determine who wins a race to measure inflation – Wall Street Journal
• A mortgage is a terrible investment – The Week