Weekend Links 20th – 21st June 2015

China

• China Shares Suffer Worst Week Since 2008 – WSJ
• China upgrades anti-graft app so whistleblowers can send images of officials caught red-handed – SCMP…auction shots from Oz?…
• China’s International Growth Agenda – Project-Syndicate
• Half of Country’s Housing Fund Goes Unused, Official Report Says – Caixin
• Why China Wants a BIT with the United States – Peterson Institute
• China shakes off deep slump as credit soars again – Telegraph, AEP
• Beijing turns to natural gas as a cost-effective coal replacement – CER
• China’s cleantech sector holds unrealized promise for equity investors – CER
• China’s underappreciated indicators – CER
• Pace of gains in China’s new home prices picks up – SCMP
• China home prices in May rise for 1st time in 13 months, but outlook stays cloudy – SCMP
• China’s property market bottoming out – Nikkei Asian Review

Asia

• Fukushima operator ‘knew of need to protect against tsunami but did not act’ – Guardian
• Thailand took four days to confirm country’s first Mers infection, raising fears virus could spread – SCMP
• Thailand confirms its first case of MERS, death toll rises to 24 in South Korea CNN
• Bank of Japan sticks with stimulus pace in upbeat economic view – SCMP
• Kuroda Says Yen’s Slump Isn’t Crimping BOJ’s Policy Flexibility – Bloomberg

United Kingdom

• Britain could so nearly have suffered the same fate as Greece – Telegraph
• Grexit: the truth is it would help Britain no end – Telegraph
• Why the BOE Could Race the Fed On Rate Hikes – WSJ
• OSBORNE’S BALANCED BUDGET PROPOSAL IS A VERY BAD IDEA – Pieria
• UK to reject EU plans to combat multinational tax avoidance – Guardian

Europe

• Greece’s Proposals to End the Crisis: My intervention at today’s Eurogroup – Yanis Varoufakis
• What If There is No Deal on Greece? – Naked Cap
• E.C.B. Holds Emergency Meeting on Extending Lifeline to Greece – NYT
• ECB Said to Plan Emergency Greek Aid Call Amid Deposit Flight – Bloomie
• ECB not sure if Greek banks would open on Monday- officials – Reuters
• EU Calls Emergency Summit as Greece Runs Out of Time – Bloomie
• Greeks admit they will default at the end of the month as central bank turns on government – Telegraph
• Thousands Rally in Athens to Urge Deal as Default Threat Grows – Bloomberg
• Crimea: EU extends restrictions in response to illegal annexation – EU
• Anti-Immigrant Party Gains in Denmark Elections – NYT
• Danish opposition wins election – BBC
• Russia willing to consider loans for Greece – Yahoo
• Greece Stares Into Unknown as Tsipras Insists a Deal Can Be Done – Bloomberg
• Greece: “The odds of default get shorter and shorter” – CBS
• IMF chief Christine Lagarde: Greece must pay up – Telegraph
• What happens next in the Greek debt drama? – Telegraph
• If Greece defaults, dominoes will not fall – Conversation
• Still Deadlocked With Greece, Europe Sets Emergency Summit Meeting – NY Times
• In Eurozone, Growing Support for a Greek Exit – NY Times
• GREXIT: END OF THE ILLUSION – Pieria
• Portugal Prepares for Worst as Greek War of Attrition Escalates – Bloomberg
• European Disunion: For Two Rivals in Greek Crisis, It’s Personal – Bloomberg
• Deflation No More? Draghi Loves What the Weak Euro Is Doing – Bloomberg
• Why Greece might now have the upper hand in crunch talks – Guardian
• Would an Argentina-style cure work for Greece? Probably not – Guardian

United States

• The Mayor vs. the Mogul – Politico
• Unresolved Allegations of Criminal Insider Trading Leaks from the Fed – naked capitalism
• President Obama Calls For Greater Gun Control in Charleston Massacre Speech – Alternet
• Here’s why mortgage modifications have changed dramatically in last year – Market Watch
• No Fed surprise now, but prepare for drama ahead – CBS
• Gas pump stimulus is over in the US – Quartz
• Banks That Failed to Fix Mortgage Services Face Restrictions – NY Times
• The Biggest Losers From A.I.G.: Taxpayers – NY Times
• The shallow industrial recession continues – but no signal for general growth – Bonddad

Americas

• Honduran army seizes hospitals after Social Security scandal – Associated Press
• Dominican Republic strips thousands of black residents of citizenship, may now expel them – Vox
• Argentina’s President Raises Eyebrows With Claims The Country’s Poverty Rate Is Among Lowest In The World – IB Times
• Latin America’s fixed income markets bloom – Euromoney
• Gap between Toronto condos and low-rise homes jumps a record $100,000 from a year ago – Financial Post
• Era of Canada’s oilsands megaproject fades as producers shift to bite-sized ventures – Financial Post
• You’d have to be crazy to buy real estate – National Post
• Venezuela Oil Loans Go Awry for China – WSJ

Backwards Land

• Greg Hunt defends windfarm commissioner – RN Drive
• Is the white paper a game-changer for northern Australia? – The Conversation
• Dallas Buyers Club’s threatening letter to downloaders revealed – SMH
• How did class become the forbidden ‘c’ word in Australian politics? – Guardian…because many Australian politicians are c**ts…
• ‘Bizarre’ union video pulled from YouTube – Fairfax
• Apples and oranges: Aldi hits Woolies and Coles in fresh food battle – Fairfax
• Bill Shorten’s purgatory puts Labor into limbo – The Conversation
• China-Australia trade agreement a compromised victory – The Conversation …’the government has had to favour current exporters over future economic opportunities’…
• Five reasons housing is more affordable overseas – The Conversation
• Just when you thought politics couldn’t sink lower – ABC, Barrie Cassidy…does anyone ever think that anymore?…
• IOOF’s boiler room throws customers to the wolves – Fairfax
• Has monetary policy lost its power? – Farifax, Gitto
• Time to dismantle the Canberra head office – Fairfax
• Trade deals acronym really translates to ‘we lose’ – Fairfax, West
• Litany of wrongdoings at IOOF included insider trading by senior employee – Fairfax
• Bill Shorten tells Labor power brokers to prepare for an early election and vows to fight Tony Abbott on industrial relations – Fairfax
• Tax avoidance inquiry calls on nine ‘big pharma’ bosses to explain tax contribution – Fairfax
• Litany of wrongdoings at IOOF included insider trading by senior employee – Fairfax
• Coalition quick to match Labor in making politicians diplomats – Fairfax

Capital Markets

• Government bond sell-off fuels liquidity fears – Euromoney
• Japan’s Weakening Of Yen Just Beginning – ETF.com
• Why the Canadian dollar’s current rally is a false one – Financial Post
• Bitcoin is the real winner in Greece crisis – Financial Post

Commodities

• Oil price drop forced Saudi Arabia to open its stock market to the world – BI
• WHY DO ANALYSTS SO RARELY DROP THEIR LONG-TERM COMMODITY PRICE FORECASTS? – Pieria
• New rules: Oil and OPEC may be down for a long count – Fairfax
• Growing Grain Stockpiles Spur Gov’t to Plan More Storage Facilities – Caixin
• Gas prices see biggest monthly jump in 6 years – CBS
• The Shale Industry Could Be Swallowed By Its Own Debt – Bloomberg
• China Deepens Steel Cuts as Iron Bull Market Crushes Profit – Bloomberg
• Oil Prices Staying Lower For Longer – ETF.com
• Coal price settlement is above spot prices – Financial Post

Global Macro

• Memo to Bond Market From Fed: You Were Right on Interest Rates – Bloomberg
• The growing biotech bubble in one chart – Quartz
• Latest Critic of Too-Big-To-Fail: Pope Francis – WSJ
• IMF Study Says Inequality Is Hurting Growth, Calls For Wealth Redistribution – IB Times
• Lost jobs? Deficits? Not so fast – trade agreements are still a roll of the dice – Guardian
• The Sino-Russian Marriage – Project Syndicate
• Wasting Food in a Hungry World – Project-Syndicate
• The Bloom Is off the BRICS – Project-Syndicate
• How Chinese Nationals Abroad are Transforming Beijing’s Foreign Policy – Caixin
• California rice farmers find Japanese trade negotiators a bit starchy – LA Times
• Understanding the Estimated Gains from Trade Pacts – Peterson Institute
• Russian to Greeks: Look to sovereign wealth funds – CNBC
• After Doubting, Economists Find China Killing U.S. Factory Jobs – Bloomberg…and Australian factory jobs?…
• How the super rich invest their money – Washington Post
• The Pope is a trust-buster, and other economic insights in his whopper encyclical – Washington Post…I fear for His Holiness, the elites don’t like socialist Popes…

…and furthermore…

• Twitter Is Killing Twitter to Save Twitter – Wired
• Solar: The First 1% Was the Hardest – Rameznaam
• Robot border guards among new airport tech at Paris Air Show – France 24
• Majority moves: Baboons make democratic decisions, study finds – Los Angeles Times
• Russian Official Proposes International Investigation Into U.S. Moon Landings – Moscow Times
• Data Mining Reveals How Human Health Varies with City Size – MIT Technology Review
• How textiles repeatedly revolutionized technology – Aoen
• Neoliberal overreach sparks rebellion in Europe, U.S. – Market Watch
• Too Much Finance, or Statistical Illusion? – Peterson Institute (pdf)
• Peak earnings for men come in their early 50s – Market Watch
• Spiking farmland prices offer a lesson on market bubbles – Market Watch
• U.S. military is the largest employer in the world – Market Watch
• Libor trial: Hayes handed over a UBS ‘instruction manual’ on rigging, prosecution says – Telegraph
• Singapore math teaching would work in Western schools, report says – CNBC
• A home of your own: dream or delusion? – The Conversation
• Universities run as businesses can’t pursue genuine learning – The Conversation
• How Ford CEO Alan Mullaly turned a broken company into the industry’s comeback kid – Quartz
• Amazon could have its drones in US skies next year – Quartz
• THE DATAFICATION OF BUSINESS AND SOCIETY – Pieria
• Just How Is Journalism Supposed To Make Money, Anyway? – IB Times…pimp real estate, of course…
• Chinese had access to U.S. security clearance data for one year – Washington Post
• You have to see how many more people are killed by guns in America to actually believe it – Washington Post
• ‘Supermaterial’ with Japanese roots enables innovative leaps – Nikkei Asian Review

Global Warming & Nature

• Global warming leads to record May temperatures – Market Watch
• The Coalition is engaging in double talk on climate policy – it has no other option – Guardian

The last word

• Clarke and Dawe: The new sliding scale of ethics. Officially launched this week

Dawe…’..because everyone knows Australians are very honest people, and very fair minded.’

Clarke …’I think the view of the international community, Brian, is that perhaps the jury is still being tampered with on that question’