Weekend Reading: 29-30 April 2017

Minos of the Shades, 1952, Jean Bellette, National Gallery of Victoria

China

• China’s Enrichment Spawns Mature Problem — Middle Class Angst– Bloomberg
• China’s Didi to raise up to $6 billion, values firm at $50 billion: sources– Reuters
• China reveals foreign addresses of corruption suspects living in Canada, US and beyond – SCMP
• What does Trump’s tax plan mean for China? Economists are divided – SCMP
• China’s central bank gains a more independent voice – Nikkei Asian Review
• Is China on the verge of a banking crisis? – Conversation
• China’s Control Problem – Bloomberg
• China’s Economy Bursts Out of the Gate — but Will It Last? – Caixin

Asia

• Trump: ‘We may terminate’ U.S.-South Korea trade agreement– Washington Post
• Trump spurns Taiwan president’s suggestion of another phone call– Reuters
• BOJ Cuts Inflation Forecast While Keeping Stimulus Unchanged– Bloomberg
• Cathay Pacific and Qantas get ready for Virgin Australia’s ‘fierce’ competition for customers – SCMP
• Job availability best in over 26 years in March – Nikkei Asian Review
• The long, frustrating quest for free trade in Asia – Nikkei Asian Review
• Singapore’s Q1 GDP set for upward revision after strong March manufacturing data – Nikkei Asian Review
• Japan’s labor shortage could be blessing in disguise, not just for women – Nikkei Asian Review
• Japan’s bullet train poised to supercharge India’s economy – Nikkei Asian Review
• DB: India’s Debt Profile Is Bad, But It Is Rapidly Improving – Value Walk

Europe

• Europe: Unemployment Rate by Region in 2016– jakubmarian.com
• Putin Warns North Korea Situation Has ‘Seriously Deteriorated’– Bloomberg
• Drivers of the post-crisis slump in the Eurozone and the US– VOX
• Angela Merkel attacks British ’illusion’ of keeping benefits of EU– The Guardian
• EU will ’for sure’ reach post-Brexit free trade deal with Britain– Reuters
• Kremlin says report that Putin will meet Trump in May is ’wishful thinking’– Reuters
• Russia opens the door to cryptocurrencies– Euractive
• Core Eurozone Inflation Surges To 4 Year High As CPI Nears ECB Target – Zero Hedge
• What’s Going On in Macedonia? – The Atlantic
• Euro zone inflation near 4-year high, adds to pressure on ECB – CNBC
• Mapping the interconnectedness between EU banks and shadow banking entities – VoxEU
• Regional and global financial safety nets: the recent European experience and its implications for regional cooperation in Asia – Bruegel
• Draghi’s Right to Keep His Foot on the Gas – Bloomberg
• Spain Shows Renewed Momentum as Recovery Accelerates – Bloomberg
• All for One: Emboldened EU United Against U.K. Over Brexit – Bloomberg
• The French Are Getting a Taste for Portuguese Property – Bloomberg
• Why Europe Still Needs Cash – Project-Syndicate
• EU battles Russia’s Nord Stream 2 slice ‘n’ dice – BNE Intellinews
• German trade surpluses demonstrate the failure of the Eurozone – Bill Mitchell
• There Is No Easy Fix For the German Surplus – Bloomberg, Bershidsky
• An asset management company for the Eurozone: Time to revive an old idea – VoxEU

United Kingdom

• Lessons from the end of free college in England– Brookings
• Moody’s: UK economy holding up well, despite emerging signs of softer consumption and housing market activity– Moody’s
• UK house prices fall again in April as buyers feel Brexit squeeze – Guardian
• UK economy is being sucked into London and south-east, says TUC – Guardian
• Foreign investors back Brexit Britain – Telegraph
• The Labour Party must embrace a hard, socialist Brexit to stand a chance of winning the general election – Conversation
• Will London Survive Brexit? – Project-Syndicate, Davies
• London: the money laundering capital of the world – Prospect
• Does “Empire 2.0” make economic sense? – Prospect
• U.K. Economy Slows More Than Forecast as Consumers Cut Back – Bloomberg
• U.K. House Prices Fall for Second Month Amid Pinch on Consumers – Bloomberg

United States

• House delays Obamacare vote, denying Trump 100-day win– Politico
• ’If there’s a shutdown, there’s a shutdown,’ Trump says– Reuters
• Donald Trump’s corporate tax plan doesn’t add up– The Economist
• Trump’s tax plan is built on a fairy tale– Washington Post
• Behind the scenes: Why Trump changed his mind on NAFTA– CTV News
• Where to Build Trump’s Wall?– Project Syndicate
• The Far Left Is Still Out Of Touch With Black Voters– Medium
• U.S. drought reaches record low as rain reigns– USA Today
• The Trump administration starts to turn up the heat on trade– The Economist
• Congress soon could make it harder for rich people to move to the U.S. – Washington Post
• ‘I was all set to terminate’: Inside Trump’s sudden shift on NAFTA – Washington Post
• US farmers fret Trump’s moves on NAFTA may cost them Canadian and Mexico markets – SCMP
• Why Trump Gets a Populist Pass – Slate
• The ‘Golden Visa’ program into the US is set to expire, and that’s worrying many in China – CNBC
• He’s covered, he makes his payments and his insurer still drags its feet – LA Times…not just Australia with Health Insurance issues…
• U.S. Can Afford Trump’s Radical Tax Cut – Bloomberg, Cowen
• Why Companies Should Refuse Trump’s Deregulation – Project-Syndicate
• Distressed-debt players rule the roost in Trump’s White House – FT.com, Tett…superb read…
• White House of Grifters – NY Times
• Economists Fear Trump’s Tax Plan Only Heightens a ‘Mountain of Debt’ – NY Times
• Trump Tax Plan Would Shift Trillions From U.S. Coffers to the Richest – NY Times
• Despair is killing a generation in the US – Irish Times
• The surprisingly short list of U.S. metro areas achieving inclusive economic growth – Brookings
• The End of Upward Mobility in America. Blame Concentrated Wealth. – Evonomics

Americas

• In Canadian lumber town, real fears over a trade war with Trump– Washington Post
• Puerto Rico Emerges as Sticking Point in Government Funding Showdown– WSJ
• Canada Hit By Countrywide Internet, TV And Phone Outage As Shaw Goes Dark– Zero Hedge
• One of Canada’s Largest Mortgage Lenders Just Imploded, Here’s What Happened– Better Dwelling
• In Canadian lumber town, real fears over a trade war with Trump – Washington Post
• What exactly is Home Capital and why is it so important to the mortgage industry? – Financial Post

Terra Specufestorus

• Australians could save $100bn on electricity ‘if government had clear policy’– The Guardian
• Westpac rules out backing Adani coal mine– ABC
• Big four banks distance themselves from Adani coalmine as Westpac rules out loan– The Guardian
• Macfarlane labels anti-Adani activists as anarchists– The Chronicle
• Senior Liberal speaks out against Turnbull: ‘The party will be decimated’– New Daily
• Why we’ve started buying cheap milk again– ABC
• Rents are falling in most parts of Australia– News.com.au
• House prices fall in Sydney for first time in 18 months – Canberra Times
• Copyright Agency diverts funds meant for authors to $15m fighting fund– The SMH
• Foreign interest in Australian housing has dropped by more than 50% – Business Insider
• Turnbull’s gas changes will lift cost of capital, but won’t relieve prices– Renew Economy
• Carbon price vital for emissions-free future, roadmap shows– ABC
• Queensland Government to introduce mandatory drug testing for parents with kids in care– ABC
• Critical perspectives on the US alliance are unthinkable in Australian politics– The Guardian
• Turnbull wants to subsidise coal AND gas transport– Renew Economy
• Australia should suspend military sales to Saudi Arabia– John Menadue
• New dwellings consents rising 10% a year, but Auckland’s housing shortage still increasing– Interest.co.nz
• Private sector funding for National’s house building plans– Interest.co.nz
• Non-residential building consents hit all-time record high– Interest.co.nz
• Malcolm Turnbull turns his big guns on infrastructure, but will he hit the target? – ABC
• ‘Most wanted’ Chinese fugitive believed to be hiding in leafy Sydney – Fairfax
• ACCC targets ‘unconscionable’ Murray Goulburn – Fairfax
• Want to stop land corruption? Take away the honeypot – Fairfax, Pascoe
• Westpac’s new climate change policy is bad news for Adani’s Carmichael mine in Queensland – ABC
• We can’t ‘hold back the tide’ in housing market: APRA’s Wayne Byres – Fairfax
• ‘Pythonesque’: Westpac’s climate policy seen to rule out lending to Adani coal – Fairfax
• Westpac’s anti-coal stance exposes a Coalition out of sync with business and public on climate – Fairfax
• Kiwis reassured one year ‘pathway to citizenship’ in Australia remains – Fairfax
• Google admits the ATO is chasing it for money – Fairfax
• Doing without private health insurance – Pearls and Irritations, McAuley…In Australia only 85 cents in the dollar passing through PHI makes its way to fund health care…
• A rigged gas market and market failure – Pearls and Irritations, Menadue
• Ready for growth? Has Australia’s affordable housing industry got what it takes? – Pearls and Irritations, noting Making Housing Affordable – Pearls and Irritations new series beginning 1 May 2017
• How much lower are we going to go? – Pearls and Irritations
• The unfairness and waste of private health insurance and the threat to Medicare – Pearls and Irritations, Menadue…good read…
• Age discrimination in the workplace happening to people as young as 45: study – Conversation
• Financial regulator APRA slams banks over lax lending standard – ABC
• ‘Cultural element’ hampering investigations into financial crimes: AFP – Fairfax
• Behind the intervention in gas: desperation – Michael West…nails it…
• Optus and Telstra’s billing scams hit customers in droves – Michael West
• Gas tax review confirms nation faces decade wait for revenue from global giants – Fairfax
• Forget good debt and bad debt, it’s good and bad infrastructure that matters – AFR
• THE HOUSING BLACK HOLE – Griffith Review, Moase

Commodities

• OPEC meeting Russia in the hope of extending oil production cuts to prop up prices – SCMP
• Trump orders investigation into aluminium imports a week after similar order on steel imports – SCMP
• REPORT DIGS DEEPER HOLE FOR AUSTRALIA’S INDIAN COAL MINE PLAN – SCMP
• Chinese corn returns to Japanese livestock farms after 7 years – Nikkei Asian Review
• ‘Returns definitely there’ for ag investors, World Bank expert says – Agrimoney
• From Guitar Hero to agrobotics – technology is writing farming’s future – Agrimoney
• Grain market blow-up ‘just a matter of time’, says UN expert – Agrimoney
• Economists split over Turnbull’s plan to reserve gas for Australian customers – Conversation
• Iron ore has further to fall to knock out unconventional supplies – Reuters, Clyde Russell
• Crushing blow to soy processors as Chinese grow wary on GMO – Reuters
• Australia backs off tax push against oil and gas industry – Reuters
• Asia faces tight noodle wheat supply, Australian farmers hold back stocks – Reuters
• Brazil minister backs tariff to curb U.S. ethanol imports – Reuters
• India draws up $8.7 billion plan to turn urea exporter – Reuters
• Guinea will not accept any big changes to Chinalco iron ore deal – Reuters
• Haunted by 2016, China’s utilities ready for coal buying spree – Reuters
• Ukraine is a global agro-superpower – BNE Intellinews, Aris
• Who Really Controls The Gold Price? (The Answer Is Quite Surprising) – Zero Hedge
• US shale oil rebound shakes OPEC – Platts
• Australia’s LNG export control plans raise alarms in Queensland – Platts
• Aluminum set to rise on China supply-side reforms: Goldman Sachs – CNBC
• Saudi Aramco CEO Says Peak Oil Demand Is a Misleading Theory – Bloomberg
• Gold’s Next Move Hinges on GDP Data – Bloomberg

Capital Markets

• It’s so tranquil, we must be nearing the death stage for global asset prices – SCMP
• Regulatory storm hits China’s banks as Xi pushes for better risk controls – SCMP
• Crimped market ever reliant on BOJ lending government bonds – Nikkei Asian Review
• Swift measures highlight external bank cyber vulnerabilities – Euromoney
• Fixing Fixed-Investment Incentives – Project-Syndicate, O’Neill
• Why Some Investors Are Betting the High Yield Party Is Over – Bloomberg
• Judging the Staying Power of Record Markets – Bloomberg
• China’s Financial Crackdown Boosts Lure of Borrowing Offshore – Bloomberg
• Bond Market Reaches a Crossroad. Here’s What to Do. – Bloomberg
• The Real Risk That the Fed Misinterprets Bond Yields – Bloomberg, Duy
• Sluggish investment: A persistent headache – VoxEU
• The Basel process of capital regulation: A story of good intentions and unintended consequences – VoxEU
• The Scary Signal of the Bond Market – Barrons

Global Macro

• Global value chains and the increasingly global nature of inflation– VOX
• ETFs Are ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction,’ FPA Capital Managers Say– Bloomberg
• The global elite are headed for a fall. And they don’t even know it.– The Week
• North Korea puts out new video showing the White House in crosshairs and carriers exploding– Washington Post…thanks for that fellas…
• One size does not fit all: On the heterogeneous impact of free trade agreements – VoxEU
• Theory and evidence for the last two decades of tariff reductions – VoxEU
• The global decline in the labour income share: is capital the answer to Germany’s current account surplus? – Bruegel
• Cracking the Mystery of Labor’s Falling Share of GDP – Bloomberg, Smith
• OK, Maybe Globalization Isn’t Dead – Bloomberg
• Trump Warns of ‘Major Conflict’ If Talks on North Korea Fail – Bloomberg
• The Paradoxical Rivalry of US and China for Industrial Innovation – Economonitor
• A World Turned Inside Out – Project-Syndicate, Roach
• Zombies of Voodoo Economics – NY Times, Krugman

…and furthermore…

• Do Digital Currencies Pose a Threat to Sovereign Currencies and Central Banks? – Peterson Institute
• Was the Solar System Previously Home to Another Intelligence? – The Atlantic
• Drinking Four Cups of Coffee Is Probably Safe – The Atlantic
• How Online Shopping Makes Suckers of Us All – The Atlantic
• Scientists Can Now Pull the DNA of Ancient Humans Out of Cave Dirt – The Atlantic
• The Media’s “Bubble” Problem Is Really a Diversity Problem – Slate
• Algorithm Predicts Epileptic Seizures In Real-Time – Value Walk
• To Test Osteoporosis Drugs, Make Bones Transparent – Value Walk
• The Hand of the Dead – Value Walk
• Artificial intelligence will replace half of all jobs in the next decade, says widely followed technologist – CNBC
• The impact of ad blockers on the Internet – VoxEU
• The operation and demise of the Bretton Woods system: 1958 to 1971 – VoxEU
• Do we understand the impact of artificial intelligence on employment? – Bruegel
• Why we have to take white working class people’s fears seriously – Media diversified
• Prehistoric human DNA is found in caves without bones in ‘enormous scientific breakthrough’ – Telegraph
• What will we do after robots have taken over? Simple: more work – SCMP
• Political risk may be overblown but it shouldn’t be ignored – SCMP
• Deutsche Bundesbank exposes the lies of mainstream monetary theory – Bill Mitchell
• Lorenzo Fioramonti interview: the man who would rid the world of GDP – Conversation
• The four factors that decide how we feel about income inequality – Conversation
• Widespread scalping is a sign of poor revenue management by event organizers – Economonitor
• Universal Healthcare Access is Coming. Stop Fighting It and Start Figuring Out How to Make It Work – Economonitor
• End-of-life care: How to have a better death – Economist…something many societies need to look more closely at…
• New Balance Court Ruling in China Is Rare Win Against Piracy – NY Times
• Growth still trumps profits for US tech groups – FT.com
• Huge New Spider Species Discovered in Mexican Cave – Smithsonian
• Remarkable New Evidence for Human Activity in North America 130,000 Years Ago – Smithsonian
• Echoes of a black hole: Ripples in space-time could herald the demise of general relativity and its replacement by a quantum theory of gravity – Aeon
• Minding matter: The closer you look, the more the materialist position in physics appears to rest on shaky metaphysical ground – Aeon
• They Go Together: Freedom, Prosperity, and Big Government – Evonomics, Ed Dolan