Weekend Reading 30-31 July 2016

Broken Mountain, Russell Drysdale, 1950 National Gallery of Victoria

China

• Didi Chuxing and Uber, Popular in China, Are Now Legal, Too– NY Times
• China’s SOE Reform—The Wrong Path– PIIE
• ‘Old China’ bad, ‘New China’ good: Growing divergence in Chinese corporate health – Bruegel
• Beyond Structural Reform in China – Project-Syndicate
• The Overwhelming Case for a Carbon Tax in China – IMF Direct
• Where do zombies lurk in China? Mostly in steel and real estate, report finds – SCMP

Asia

• 1MDB: The inside story of the world’s biggest financial scandal– The Guardian
• Abenomics: Three-piece dream suit– The Economist
• Meet Taikang: The Chinese Insurance Giant That Just Bought a Big Chunk of Sotheby’s– WSJ
• Bank of Japan blames Brexit as it renews monetary stimulus – Guardian
• It’s official: Japan’s debt mountain too high – Nikkei Asian Review
• Corruption, not terrorism, is the biggest threat to investors in Asia – Nikkei Asian Review…corruption is a far bigger threat than terrorism all around the world…
• BOJ Eases Policy by Doubling ETF Buying, Underwhelms Expectations – NY Times
• World’s biggest pension fund loses US$51b in stock rout – Business Times
• Modi and his challenges: Leading India on its march to prosperity – VoxEU
• BOJ Opts for Limited Stimulus Expansion, Plans Policy Review – Bloomberg

Europe

• Norway considers giving mountain to Finland as 100th birthday present– The Guardian
• IMF’s Internal Watchdog Rebukes the Fund for Its Handling of Euro Crisis– WSJ
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel Stands Firm on Migrant Policy After Terrorist Attacks– WSJ
• Merkel admits EU is being RAVAGED BY TERROR but says Germany should welcome MORE refugees– Express
• Merkel rules out migrant policy reversal after attacks– BBC
• Do we really want to give Irish passports to all these Brits?– Irish Times
• Study says banks in EU stress tests could require €900bn– FT
• 3 reasons Russia’s Vladimir Putin might want to interfere in the US presidential elections– VOX
• German Inflation Exceeds Forecasts as Draghi Eyes Brexit Clues– Bloomberg
• IMF admits disastrous love affair with the euro and apologises for the immolation of Greece – Telegraph, AEP
• How a Currency Intended to Unite Europe Wound Up Dividing It – NY Times
• Region faces weakened and withdrawn post-coup Turkey –BNE Intellinews…good read…
• Serbia hands two more protest notes to Croatia as tensions escalate –BNE Intellinews
• Russia’s central bank purges “pyramidal” insurance sector –BNE Intellinews, Corcoran
• Single market access from outside the EU: three key prerequisites – Bruegel
• Italy’s bail-in headache – Bruegel…good read…
• Euro zone growth halves as France sees sharp slowdown in spending – CNBC
• ‘European banking sector is challenged,’ Barclays CEO warns – CNBC
• Why bad debts are the ‘missing link’ for stress tests: European bank chief – CNBC
• The assassination of a Ukrainian investigative journalist – Economist
• Brussels Can Still Sweat the Small Stuff – Bloomberg, Bershidsky
• Europe’s Bank Stress Tests are Missing One Crucial Element – Bloomberg
• Monte dei Paschi mulls rescue bids as EU banks await stress-test results – Guardian

United Kingdom

• Ford considers closing factories and raising prices in Europe in wake of Brexit– The Guardian
• Third of foreign students less likely to come to UK after Brexit– FT
• Our attitude towards wealth played a crucial role in Brexit. We need a rethink – Guardian, Stephen Hawking
• Brexit to weaken UK housing in near-term, Nationwide says – Business Times
• Reversing Brexit – Project-Syndicate, Kaletsky
• The difficulties of defining EU-UK economic relations – Bruegel
• Will TTIP survive Brexit? – Bruegel
• UK exports grow faster than global rivals for first time since 2006 as businesses target non-EU markets – Telegraph

United States

• US economy grows by just 1.2% in second quarter as businesses cut back – Guardian
• U.S. economy grew at a slow pace in spring, expanding at just 1.2 percent pace in second quarter – Washington Post
• Consumers seen powering U.S. economic growth in second quarter – Reuters
• U.S. trade, inventory data pose downside risk to second-quarter GDP – Reuters
• U.S. consumer agency seeks to overhaul debt collection industry – Reuters
• Hillary Clinton’s Policies Would Boost Growth and Budget Deficits, New Analysis Says – WSJ
• U.S. Homeownership Rate Falls to Five-Decade Low – WSJ
• Here’s why the U.S. economy is better than you think – Market Watch
• Is the Attempt to Link Trump and Putin a New McCarthyism?– Slate
• The Reviews Are In: Conservatives Say The DNC Was ’Disaster’ For The GOP– Talking Points Memo
• Republican security experts request congressional investigation of DNC hack– Washington Post
• Clinton Is Running As the Candidate of Democracy– NY Mag
• Hillary Clinton Warns of ‘Moment of Reckoning’ in Speech Accepting Nomination– NY Times
• This election isn’t just Democrat vs. Republican. It’s normal vs. abnormal.– VOX
• Clinton to Call 2016 Election ’Moment of Reckoning’ for U.S.– Bloomberg
• We are witnessing a visceral shift in the way the parties speak to the country– Washington Post
• Trump and the Oligarch– Politico
• Election Update: Why Our Model Is Bullish On Trump, For Now– Five Thirty Eight
• Fannie Mae: Mortgage Serious Delinquency rate declined in June, Lowest since May 2008– Calculated Risk
• Federal Reserve says economy getting better but leaves interest rates unchanged – Washington Post
• Why Dropping the Trans-Pacific Partnership May Be a Bad Idea – NY Times
• One Thing Both Parties Want: To Break Up the Banks Again – NY Times
• The Fed teases a September hike, but will it chicken out? – CBS
• The Hillary Haters – Slate…good read, she is a woman who inspires…
• The Fed Meets Expectations, With a Caveat – Bloomberg, El-Erian
• Don’t Count on That U.S. Economy Data Quite Yet – Bloomberg
• Great Graphic: How the US Recovery Stacks Up – Marc to Market
• Here’s What’s Going Right, and Wrong, in the U.S. Economy – NY Times

Americas

• Fixing the saving problem in Latin America and the Caribbean– VOX
• The Brazilian economy is struggling in a marathon of Olympic scale– The Times
• Top Vancouver realtor rapped for advising clients of way to avoid new 15% property transfer tax – Financial Post
• Canada’s biggest residential landlord is the most shorted company in North America – Financial Post
• Saving for development: Fixing the saving problem in Latin America and the Caribbean – VoxEU

 Terra Incognita

• ASIC: $20 trillion worth of financial products may be affected by BBSW rigging – ABC
• Don’t expect super reform to come without a fight – ABC, Verrender…good read…
• Australian Bureau of Statistics reports 14 data breaches since 2013– The Guardian
• Not Just In The US: TPP Meeting More Resistance In Australia And Japan, Too – Tech Dirt
• Young Liberal sets up companies that harvest job-seeker data– The SMH
• Woolworths hands private label dairy contract to Bega Cheese, Murray Goulburn loses out– ABC
• Gutting Science: Malcolm Turnbull Has The Power To Reverse The Cuts And Stop The Exodus– New Matilda
• Road rage, running late and slow drivers push people to tailgate, research discovers– ABC
• Telstra will have to lower dividends and cut prices thanks to NBN, says Moody’s– The SMH
• Renewables a $10 billion opportunity over the next five years– The AFR
• Malcolm Turnbull refuses to nominate Kevin Rudd as UN secretary general– The Guardian
• ‘Petty’ Turnbull refuses to endorse Rudd for UN job – Canberra Times
• Mining industry denies political donations bought it influence over Queensland Government– ABC
• Why the RBA is on a knife edge – The AFR
• Australia stands up against the world’s tallest countries – Canberra Times
• Housing borrowing surged 8.8% in past year– Interest.co.nz
• Auckland’s intensification problem– Interest.co.nz
• New Zealand building boom to help cool property, supports case for rate cuts – Business Times

Commodities

• Goldman says oil’s rebalancing remains fragile amid macro headwinds – Reuters
• Gold firms after Fed holds off signaling rate rise – Reuters
• The Death of OPEC – Project-Syndicate
• Surprise rally in coal prices expected to stretch as China buys more – Reuters
• Steel demand supporting iron ore price but Chinese SEOs could pose danger – CNBC
• The Glut Strikes Back as Oil Returns to Brink of Bear Market – Bloomberg
• How Donald Trump Changed My Mind About Gold – Bloomberg
• Japan’s top steelmakers boost output, but firm yen to erode annual profits – Reuters
• Hedge funds dump U.S. oil, turn record short on gasoline – Reuters
• Lithium surges in price as cars go electric – Nikkei Asian Review
• Oil sector credit downgrades rattle a shaken industry – Nikkei Asian Review

Capital Markets

• Buying Longer Bonds Holds Danger– WSJ
• Yen Volatility Surges to Highest Since 2008 Before BOJ: Chart– Bloomberg
• The point of no return for quantitative easing is getting closer – Market Watch
• What’s New About Today’s Low Interest Rates? – Project-Syndicate, Reinhart
• The Cheapest ETFs In The World – ETF.com
• What are the Implications of a Weaker Yuan? – ValueWalk
• The buck stops here: Vanguard money market funds The global case for strategic asset allocation and an examination of home bias – Vanguard…spot the home market bias in Oz…
• Dollar Pulls Back Further Post-FOMC – Marc to Market
• Long-bond fever ignores interest rate perils – Nikkei Asian Review

Global Macro

• Globalisation and politics: The new political divide – Economist…it is just another form of left and right…
• Deutsche Bank: Not Even Fiscal Stimulus Will Save Global Growth– Bloomberg
• Faltering Oil Rally Boosts Leveraged Loan Defaults, Fitch Says– Bloomberg
• Why Some Economists Are Talking About Dropping Money From the Sky– NY Times
• Islamic State’s oil revenue dives as it loses Iraqi territory– Reuters
• Helicopter Money: Why Some Economists Are Talking About Dropping Money From the Sky – NY Times
• What’s ahead for the WTO: Looking around the corner and beyond – VoxEU
• Secular stagnation in the open economies: How it spreads, how it can be cured – VoxEU
• An econophysics perspective of trade liberalisation – VoxEU
• Why Tax Havens Are Political and Economic Disasters – The Atlantic
• When Gains at the Top Hurt Those at the Bottom – The Atlantic
• IMF Apologizes For The Immolation Of Greece – ValueWalk
• The Death of the Central Bank – Bloomberg…yep, on that path…
• We’ve entered a danger zone in central banking – SCMP
• The Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Accord Explained – NY Times
• Why Voters Don’t Buy It When Economists Say Global Trade Is Good – NY Times
• A Power Broker Who Wants Labor at the Table, Not on the Menu – NY Times

…and furthermore…

• What Does ’Regulatory Capture’ Mean to Business and the Economy?– inc.com
• Beer from urine is totally safe to drink– Business Insider
• Unprecedented Alzheimer’s drug slows disease by 80 per cent– New Scientist
• 1MDB: The inside story of the world’s biggest financial scandal – Guardian…classic read, mega wealth always has a mega ugly side…
• After 150 years, Japan is finally falling in love with cricket– Guardian
• Global Pokénomics gives businesses a real-world boost – Guardian
• These businesses are booming thanks to Russian hackers – Washington Post…there are Russian hackers on more than one side…
• Your kid is way more likely to be poisoned by crayons than by marijuana – Washington Post
• Why rich neighbors are bad for you – Washington Post
• New York Fed asks Philippines to recover Bangladesh money – Nikkei Asian Review
• A Brief History of (In)equality – Project-Syndicate, DeLong
• The Real Roots of Populism – Project-Syndicate
• Growth in a Time of Disruption – Project-Syndicate
• Panama Papers show Italian bribes’ path to Algeria: ICIJ – Business Times
• What Does Paternity Leave Have to Do with a Company’s Success? – Economonitor
• Failed states and the paradox of civilisation: New lessons from history – VoxEU
• Physician liability and medical innovation – VoxEU
• What leads to divorce? It’s often about work – CBS
• Public Dollars Don’t Favor Rich Students – The Atlantic
• The Olympics Have Always Been Political – The Atlantic…and they’ve always been corrupt, too…
• The Cheapest Generation – The Atlantic
• Memories from the (ferrous) scrap heap of history – Platts
• These 3 Animated Charts Capture The Economic Rise Of Asia – ValueWalk
• WHAT THE KREMLIN MAKES OF DONALD TRUMP – New Yorker
• CAN AN ADDICTION MEMOIR HELP US UNDERSTAND WALL STREET? – New Yorker