Links 29 December 2017

Global Macro/Investing

• World’s Wealthiest Became $1 Trillion Richer in 2017 – Bloomberg
• I used to think people made rational decisions. But now I know I was wrong – The Guardian (you don’t say…)
• Bitcoin Drops as South Korea Says Exchange Closures Are Possible – Bloomberg
• Three Things That Will Never Change in Wealth Management – The Reformed Broker
• Ten Economic Questions for 2018 – Calculated Risk
• Stock Market Valuations Won’t Predict the Next Crash – A Wealth of Common Sense

Americas

• Many Comments Critical of ‘Fiduciary’ Rule Are Fake – WSJ
• Trump White House Saw Record Number of First-Year Staff Departures – WSJ
• Once a Cash Cow, Venezuela’s Oil Company Now Verges on Collapse – NYT
• Trump legal team readies attack on Flynn’s credibility – WaPo
• Kremlin trolls burned across the Internet as Washington debated options – Wapo
• The Tax Plan Could Change How Wall Street Works – Bloomberg
• Mexico speeds up cannabis legalization, patients are expected to have access to medical cannabis products in the first quarter of 2018 – AGN News

Europe/Middle East

• Goldman Sachs picks Dublin as base for European asset management – FT
• Apple and Amazon in talks to set up in Saudi Arabia – sources – Reuters
• The Robots Are Coming, and Sweden Is Fine – NYT
• A Labour government might not be as bad as Brexit, claims Heseltine – The Guardian
• French lawsuit launched against Apple for alleged crime of slowing down iPhones – The Local
• Putin: Russia warns U.S. against ‘meddling’ in presidential election – USAToday (comrade kettle, this is comrade black)
• Anti-government protests break out in Iran over economic woes – Times of Israel

Asia

• China says more than 18,000 officials failed or performed badly in protecting environment – Reuters
• Donald Trump poised to hit China with trade penalties soon, as he toughens ‘America First’ stance in 2018. – SCMP
• South Korea Considers Shuttering Bitcoin Exchanges – WSJ
• Trump says ‘disappointed’ China allowing oil into North Korea – Reuters
• Taiwan President Says China Military Causing Regional Instability – USNews
• U.N. says ‘massive’ rights abuses in southern Philippines could intensify under martial law – Reuters

Straya/UnZud

• Barnaby Joyce: Armidale man charged over bullet death threat sent to Deputy PM’s office – ABC
• Petrol retailers reaping record margins despite increased surveillance, watchdog says – ABC
• New Indian tariff to hit Australian farmers – The Age
• Why Australians called and texted each other less on Christmas Day – SMH
• Pilot shortage: Australia to relax visa laws to attract foreign flyers – The Guardian
• Petition to reduce our immigration to long term averages – Change.org

and furthermore…

• A Tech-Driven Boom Is Coming; Please Be Patient – WSJ
• How the Blockchain is Redefining Trust – Wired
• The Worst Job in Technology: Staring at Human Depravity to Keep It Off Facebook – WSJ
• New study reveals that the majority of the anti-vaccination movement on Facebook is female and that the comment networks exhibit ‘small world’ characteristics – DOI.org
• A model for ‘sustainable’ US beef production – If Americans reduced their mean beef consumption from the current ≈460 g per person per week to ≈200 g per person per week (corresponding to f = 0.5), the US beef industry could become environmentally sustainable. – Nature
• Falcon Heavy is going vertical for the first time at pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. – Spaceflight Now on Twitter (long awaited! This will be one to watch in late January!)