Links 4 January 2018

Global Macro/Investing/Economics

• A No-Name Solar Firm Is the Latest to Tap Blockchain Craze for 233% Rally – Bloomberg
• A Hedge-Fund Titan Puts Away the Punch Bowl – WSJ
• 9 ways the world got a lot better in 2017 – Vox (always look on the bright side of life…)
• The world is running out of a resource, and it’s not oil – SCMP (its sand to save you a click…but read it anyway..or not, I’m not your Dad)
• The Hottest Commodity of 2017 Climbs to a Record – Bloomberg (another save – its palladium)
• Why Low Inflation Is No Surprise by J. Bradford DeLong – Project Syndicate

Europe/Middle East

• French President Macron Demands Anti-Fake-News Law “To Protect Democracy” – ZeroHedge
• All Change at Top of the ECB as Draghi Era Approaches the End – Bloomberg
• 2009 vs now: How Iran’s new protests compare to the past – AP
• Russia Says US Can’t Criticize Iran Because It Crushed Occupy Wall Street and Ferguson – Newsweek
• Nikki Haley: Pakistan playing ‘double game’ for years. “They work with us at times, and they also harbour the terrorists that attack our troops in Afghanistan,” Haley told reporters at UN headquarters. That game is not acceptable to this administration.” – AlJazeera
• Norway suspends arms sales to UAE over Yemen war – Reuters (next do it to the Saudi’s please…)
• Germans trust police more than bankers, new survey finds – A new survey has shed light on the levels of trust Germans have in non-political institutions.- DW
• Trump threatens to cut off US aid to Palestinians over Jerusalem dispute – Times of Israel

Americas

• The Fed – Monetary Policy: Federal Reserve
• Trump, Boehner hit the links – Politico (dumb and dumber?)
• Las Vegas’s Economy Is on the Brink of a Boom – Bloomberg
• Trump Says Bannon ‘Lost His Mind’ After Leaving White House – Bloomberg (he’s out of control Jerry!)
• Bannon: 2016 Trump Tower meeting was ’treasonous’ – CNN (you don’t say?)
• Why the U.S. Spends So Much More Than Other Nations on Health Care – NYT
• Trump Says His Nuclear Button Is Bigger Than North Korea’s – Bloomberg…for fuck’s sake…..

Asia

• North Korea Reopens Border Hotline With South – NYT
• China’s central bank told a top-level government internet finance group that the monetary authority can tell local governments to regulate the power usage of bitcoin miners to gradually reduce the scale of their production. – Reuters
• China backs Kim Jong Un’s proposal to use 2018 Winter Olympic to improve peninsula situation. – ChinaDaily
• When a North Korean Missile Accidentally Hit a North Korean City – The Diplomat
• Taiwan ship owner bailed over oil smuggling to North Korea – Taiwan News

Straya/UnZud

• ‘Snake egg’ mystery leaves experts scrambling after Australian school’s discovery: Wildlife rescuers retrieve 43 eggs believed to be from of one of the world’s most venomous snakes from school’s sandpit – The Guardian
• Peter Dutton says Victorians scared to go out because of ‘African gang violence’ – The Guardian
• The end of cheap beer: radical alcohol tax plan put to government – SMH
• The Obsession With “African Gangs” Betrays A Sad Fact About Politics – Junkee (good read here)
• Treasury hides corporate welfare data, hits social welfare & pensioners – Michael West
• Koala extinction: Death by a million cuts – Independent Australia

….and more

• Science Says: Why there’s a big chill in a warmer world – AP
• Our Dystopian Now – Om.co
• Scottish Club Apologizes After Fans Throw Fake Eyeballs At Partially Blind Opposing Player – Deadspin
• Tesla Model 3 driven from LA to New York in 50 hours – The Verge
• Iceland has a simple solution for closing gender pay gap: Make it illegal – Quartz (I prefer their solution on banking fraud – lock ’em up!)
• Sales of electric and hybrid cars exceeded half of new registrations in Norway – Autobreaking (those crazy Norwegians! Imagine what you could do if almost all of your power production was renewable, pity Australia doesn’t have that potential, its not like the country is inches away from the Sun 95% of the year)