Links 27 December 2017

Global Macro

• China to Overtake U.S. Economy by 2032 as Asian Might Builds – Bloomberg
• Is Bitcoin Back? Cryptocurrency Passes $15,000 as Rebound Begins – Bloomberg
• Steven Cohen Plans a New Hedge Fund. Investors Are Wary. – NYT
• Big Tech: The New Predatory Capitalism – Prospect.org
• Israeli regulator becomes latest to crack down on bitcoin – FT

Americas

• Retailers Feel Shoppers’ Christmas Cheer – WSJ
• Kremlin trolls burned across the Internet as Washington debated options – WaPo
• Venezuelans scramble to survive as merchants demand dollars – Reuters
• Apple suppliers drop on report of weak iPhone X demand; analysts’ views mixed – Reuters
• New York’s vanishing shops and storefronts: ’It’s not Amazon, it’s rent’ – The Guardian
• Extreme poverty returns to America – WaPo
• Mexico Murder Total Hits An All Time High – IBTimes

Europe/Middle East/Africa

• Power Prices Go Negative in Germany, a Positive for Energy Users – NYT
• Fears grow across the Atlantic over Brexit – BBC
• Huge health gap revealed between UK’s rich and poor – The Guardian
• Majority of Russians Regret Soviet Collapse, Poll Says: The number of Russians who regret the collapse of the Soviet Union is the highest in nearly a decade. – The Moscow Times
• Indian Army crosses Line of Control, kills 3 Pakistani soldiers to avenge deadly attack  – India Today
• Pope calls for two-state solution in Israel conflict – Reuters

Asia

• China’s New Lenders Collect Invasive Data and Offer Billions. Beijing Is Worried. – NYT
• Japan’s households open their wallets, BOJ seen keeping stimulus – Reuters
• China Central Bank Official Says Bankruptcy May Benefit the Country – Bloomberg
• Australia closes in on joint defence force deal with Japan – SMH
• Report: North Korea soldier found to have anthrax antibodies – UPI

Straya/UnZud/Pacific

• 5000 Christmas revellers trash Melbourne’s St Kilda foreshore – SBS
• Ongoing erosion of legal rights’: Government slammed for ignoring key report for two years – SMH
• Turnbull losing critical support in NSW – Skynews
• Luxury car tax to add $220m windfall to government – Wheelsmag
• Full recourse home loans lower defaults but may increase risky lending – ABC

Furthermore….

• Humidity will make some parts of the world unlivable in 50 years – Vice (currently its only a dry heat…)
• Government pleads with Harry not to invite Obamas to Meghan wedding – The Sun (orange before courage?)
• Spielberg’s ‘The Post’ Provides Fitting End to Turbulent Year for the Media – NYT
• How exposure to innovation influences who becomes an inventor – Vox
• The AI chip startup explosion is already here – Techcrunch
• Creepy skull-shaped asteroid to haunt Earth again – NY Post
• New archeological research has shed fresh light on China’s first emperor, creator of the world-famous terracotta army -France24
• Hitchens’s Razor: “What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence,” a dictum coined by antitheist Christopher Hitchens. – Wikipedia
• Animation Master Hayao Miyazaki says problem with anime industry is the anime fans – Can say the same thing about Star Wars really…