Easter links March 25-28, 2016

Sydney Heads, 1865, Eugene von Guérard, Art Gallery of NSW

…more to come…

China

• Chinese premier vows to stabilise the property market – SCMP
• ‘Skyrocketing’ debt at state firms among biggest challenges facing China’s economy – SCMP
• Shanghai Said to Be Nearing Purchase Curbs for Warming Property Market – Caixin
• China’s rust-belt city Shenyang may let young homebuyers dip into parents’ housing funds – SCMP
• China’s Incompatible Goals – Project-Syndicate
• State-Owned Non-Ferrous Metals Firm Files for Bankruptcy – Caixin
• China and the Future of Commodity Prices – Project-Syndicate
• China’s debt bubble threatens global economy – Nikkei Asian Review
• China’s mounting toxic debt casts shadow over economy – Nikkei Asian Review
• Renminbi Series Part 2: Is China’s Currency Fairly Valued? – Peterson Institute
• There’s No Sign of a China Rebound Yet – Bloomberg
• Differentiated Policies Needed for China’s Property Market – Economonitor
• Smog-Fighters Target Rural China’s Coal Stoves – Caixin
• Gov’t May Let Banks Hold Less Cash in Reserve for Sour Loans – Caixin
• Unintended consequences of monetary and regulatory policies on banks’ risk-taking behaviour: A closer examination of China’s shadow banking – VoxEU
• China’s latest five-year plan could be its last – CER
• How China’s Anti-Corruption Campaign Is Putting Pressure On A Slowing Economy – IB Times
• Welcome to Shenzhen, home to the planet’s fastest rising house prices – Guardian

Asia

• Nobel laureate Krugman calls for tax hike delay, stimulus measures – Japan Times
• Malaysia central bank says to act against 1MDB over $1.8 billion foreign funds – CNBC
• Taxing Home and Car Buyers Helps Singapore Keep Its Budget in Check – Bloomberg
• China to help develop Mekong River basin – Nikkei Asian Review
• Singapore is struggling with its founding father’s economic legacy – Nikkei Asian Review
• Singapore Consumer Prices Extend Longest Slump Since the 1970s – Bloomberg
• India takes on seed engineer Monsanto – Nikkei Asian Review
• Oil Decline Takes Toll on Saudi Conglomerate — Energy Journal – WSJ
• Singapore Budget 2016: Singapore’s continued relevance – that’s the big question – Business Times
• India: the last of the Brics left standing – Prospect, Magnus
• Taiwan again cuts key rate amid weak economy, global easing – Nikkei Asian Review
• More Japanese companies enjoying zero-interest fund procurement – Nikkei Asian Review

Europe

• Europe is now drowning under the cost of welfare bills – Telegraph, Lynn
• Russia, Light on Cash, Weighs Risks of a Heavy Tax on Oil Giants – NY Times
• The Success of Greek Structural Reforms – Project-Syndicate
• Brexit’s Questions for Europe – Project-Syndicate
• Financial populism in Germany – Economonitor
• Foreign CEOs in Moscow become an endangered species – BNE INtellinews, Corcoran
• The Orban grinder and Hungary’s monkey business with foreign investors – BNE INtellinews
• Causes of the Eurozone Crisis: A nuanced view – VoxEU
• Europe at a Crossroads: How to Achieve Efficient Economic Governance in the Euro Area? – Bruegel
• The Ultimate Exit Strategy: Why a Brexit Could Sink the EU – ValueWalk
• As ECB ramps up QE, its stake in government bond markets may double – Reuters
• German Property is Looking More Like London – Bloomberg
• Banks Say No to Funds From Flagship ECB Policy – WSJ

United Kingdom

• Liberty House tycoon vows to revive British steel industry – Guardian
• London house prices rose almost £500 a day in January – Guardian
• Chancellor Osborne ‘boxed-in’ by policy pledges – BBC
• Land Registry faces privatisation – Guardian
• Cost of hedging pound soars to near six-year highs on Brexit worries – Reuters
• BACK TO BASICS 2: IN WHAT TENURE? – Pieria…interesting look at UK housing…
• Welfare cuts: Two-nation Britain – Economist

United States

• Rule to Require Employers to Disclose Use of Anti-Union Consultants – NY Times
• As Coal Prospects Decline, a Colorado Town Reconsiders Marijuana – NY Times
• Ethanol Bust Adds to U.S. Fuel Glut and Losses Across Corn Belt – Bloomberg
• Bullard Sees Case for April Hike as Inflation Set to Pick Up – Bloomberg
• U.S. new home sales rise on strong gains in the West – Reuters
• The biggest winners under Donald Trump’s tax plan – CBS
• Why finding a starter home is harder than ever – Market Watch
• Bubble-era home buyers jumped at rising prices; today, they’re turned off – Market Watch
• Why the rise of Donald Trump has even Wall Street worried – Washington Post
• The number that tells us the economy might be doomed – Washington Post
• The trade-backlash explanation of Trump & Sanders – Bruegel
• U.S. manufacturing still weak; labor market flexes muscle – Reuters
• The Fed’s Misunderstood Dots – Bloomberg
• The One Economic Question Nobody Is Answering – WSJ

Americas

• Study reveals awfulness of Canadian investor immigration; income tax averages C$1,400 per millionaire – SCMP
• Chinese Buy One-Third of Vancouver Homes: National Bank Estimate – Bloomberg
• Federal Budget 2016 boosts affordable housing by $2.3 billion, but foreign ownership mystery gets short shrift – Financial Post
• TTIP & TPP – A Threat to Latin America? – Economonitor
• Trudeau Stimulus Plan Puts Canada C$120 Billion Into the Red – Bloomberg
• Hedge Funds Dealt Setback as U.S. Sides With Argentina – NY Times
• The World’s Best Performing Market Is Still in Serious Trouble – Bloomberg

Terra Incognita

• Where is housing ‘affordable’ in Sydney? – ABC…epic but tragic read…
• Can US house price falls happen here? – Cuffelinks, Roger Montgomery
• Airports make up to 70% profit on car parking charges – report – Guardian…Monopolies: do they fleece you?…
• Why the RBA Is Keeping Quiet on the Aussie – Bloomberg
• ANZ, Westpac bad debt provisions set to rise amid commodity price crash – ABC, Janda
• Woodside Browse Basin decision ‘disappointing’ for Government revenue: Josh Frydenberg – ABC
• Budget explainer: why the federal budget falls in May – The Conversation
• Penalty rate cut will hurt economy without helping business: Labor – The Conversation
• Workers would benefit from lowering company tax: Sinodinos – The Conversation
• Graphite: to capitalise Australia needs to invest in conversion – The Conversation
• Explainer: how company versus personal tax cuts boost the economy – The Conversation
• Australia’s lost dreams of global champions – Paul Wallbank
• ANZ’s bad loans to miners are just ‘tip of the iceberg’, analysts say – Guardian
• The budget is coming, so standby for talk of ‘ordinary Australians’. Who are these people? – Guardian
• China’s ENN Group unit becomes largest single shareholder in Australia’s Santos, purchasing stake held by Hony Capital – SCMP
• Turnbull’s big gamble: The prime minister threatens an early election in a bid to stamp his authority – Economist
• Nationals’ Fiona Nash blasts Coles for suggesting competition laws will increase prices – Guardian
• Australian Energy Giant Woodside Delays Large Offshore L.N.G. Project – NY Times
• Turnbull extols ‘exciting times’ – Nikkei Asian Review
• Population surge: Melbourne booms as locals leave Sydney – Fairfax…how long before they leave Melbourne too?…
• Online payday lenders under scrutiny following Nimble investigation – Fairfax
• Woodside’s Replacement Problem – Bloomberg
• A return to full employment in Australia will require significantly higher deficits – Bill Mitchell
• More superannuation schemes to close – NZ Herald

Commodities

• First US shale gas sails into Europe as Ineos carrier arrives in Norway – Guardian
• Global Sugar Shortage Outlook Raised by Green Pool on El Nino – Bloomberg
• Angus beef cattle breeders see best returns in decades – ABC
• Rare Earths: driven by magnetic applications and diversity in supply – The Conversation
• The U.S. is tightening “dolphin-safe” tuna rules – CBS
• Goldman: Still underweight on resources stocks – CNBC
• How the world subsidizes overfishing, in two charts – Vox
• How South America’s lithium triangle is gearing up to feed our battery addiction – Guardian
• Asian LNG markets jostle to set benchmark – Nikkei Asian Review
• ‘Historic’ spending cuts putting future oil supply at risk, threatening spike in prices – Financial Post
• The current oil price rally is reaching its limits – Mineweb
• The “massive” rally that means China will curb steel exports – Mineweb
• Pipes to wi-fi show why copper’s troubles go beyond China slump – Mineweb
• Doctor Copper Hiding in Shanghai Warehouse – WSJ
• Seeds of change: Ukrainian minister seeks to bolster country’s agriculture – Platts
• Why Oil Prices Are About To Plunge Again: 31 Million Barrels In Floating Storage Are Coming On Shore – ZeroHedge
• Future of the chocolate industry looks sticky – CNBC

Capital Markets

• Japan’s Bond Market Is Close to Breaking Point – Bloomberg
• Why Switzerland’s Franc May Be the Must-Buy Around `Brexit’ Vote – Bloomberg
• Helicopter Money Takes Flight as Latest Drastic Monetary Idea – Bloomberg
• Credit Suisse to axe 2,000 more investment banking jobs – Reuters
• Scrambling for cover, U.S. shale producers ramp up hedging – Reuters
• Frenzy for junk bonds isn’t going to end well – Market Watch
• Bank of England: Don’t wipe out international banking – Telegraph
• Negative interest would test banks’ creativity – CNBC
• Wall Street’s 0.01%: An Inside Look at Citi’s Secret Client List – Bloomberg
• Credit Suisse Chief Says Risky Bets Were a ‘Surprise’ – NY Times
• How Fed Makes Markets Purr – WSJ
• Regulatory sanctions and reputational damage in financial markets – VoxEU
• Bank lending and the sharing of borrower Information – VoxEU
• Resource write-downs at Japan’s trading houses seen topping 1tn yen – Nikkei Asian Review
• Hedge Funds Have a Performance Problem – Bloomberg
• If Every Bond’s a Winner, Why So Many Losers? – Bloomberg…good read…
• Liquidity Death Spiral Traps Credit Suisse – Bloomberg
• Brexit Fears Boost Sterling Put Buying – Marc to Market

Global Macro

• Trade Deficits Come Due Someday – Bloomberg, Noah Smith…except in Australia?…
• What Brazil’s turmoil says about corruption in emerging markets from South Africa to Malaysia – SCMP
• Economics in a Time of Political Instability – Project-Syndicate
• New Rules for the Monetary Game – Project-Syndicate
• Half of world stocks riding bull market on a rally fuelled by the Federal Reserve – Financial Post
• The Fed’s Credibility Dilemma – Bloomberg
• ‘Stagflation’ could be the latest 1970s trend to make a comeback – MarketWatch

…and furthermore…

• Shedding Light on Shadow Banking (pdf) – IMF
• Georgia’s DIY Oil Pipeline: The Art of Concealing Crude under Cabbage – Eurasianet
• Is Prostitution Just Another Job? – NY Mag
• What Are the Chances? – Boston Magazine
• Rockefeller Family Fund hits Exxon, divests from fossil fuels – Reuters
• Stepped-up security is becoming a cost of doing business in an age of terrorism – Washington Post
• Your Phone Was Made By Slaves: A Primer on the Secret Economy – Long Reads…worth a look…
• Djibouti Is Hot: How a forgotten sandlot of a country became a hub of international power games. – Bloomberg
• Five steps to help us bridge the gap between millennials and pensioners – Telegraph
• This is what 30 years of China trumping the U.S. on trade looks like – Market Watch…wow…
• Orwellian economy? Millennials get paid like it’s 1984 – Market Watch
• Reckoning With Inequality – Project-Syndicate
• The Economist’s Concubine – Project-Syndicate
• Why few hackers are lining up to help FBI crack iPhone encryption – LA Times
• China’s Pledge Might Mean End Game for Ivory Trade – Caixin
• Here come the robot advisers – Prospect
• The Work That Makes Work Possible – The Atlantic
• Scientists Can Now Watch the Brain Evaluate Risk – The Atlantic
• The hidden victims of the Global Crisis – VoxEU
• Are We in a Higher Education Bubble? – Slate
• Aswath Damodaran Session 14 (Undergraduate): Time Weighted Returns & Equity Analysis – Value Walk…good explainer for those who don’t know…
• In Shift to Streaming, Music Business Has Lost Billions – NY Times
• How Amar Bose used research to build better speakers – CNBC
• Macroprudential Policy: A Case Study from a Tabletop Exercise (pdf) – NY Fed…very good read…