News round-up: 28 Aug 2008 – mini version

Today’s version is a mini-round up of the most interesting economic, financial and political stories on the web.

Is debt your destiny? – MSN (good advice on how to avoid being sucked in by debt)

What You Get for … $900,000 – NY Times (Interesting to see, and check out the slideshow pics of the houses)

I’m in Your Google Docs, Reading Your Spreadsheets – NY Times (A real-life account of how online document sharing can be a problem; wow!)

As Food Prices Soar, Brazil and Argentina React in Opposite Ways – NY Times (a good article which points out the fact that Argentina’s protectionist stance will only hurt it in the long run)

U.S. Moves Toward International Accounting Rules – NY Times (this ill make apples to apples comparisons much easier, but it may mean some nasty surprises in income statements)

Two Items Missing in Coverage of the June Case-Shiller Data – Beat The Press (Dean Baker reminds us that the inflation-adjusted drop in house prices is greater than the nominal drop. And he adds that the upper end of the market is doing much better.)

Fear of Defaults After a Flurry of Apartment House Sales – NY Times (The NY Times has some good reporting these days)

Asia Is About to Give U.S. a Kick in the Fannie: William Pesek – Bloomberg (a good piece on relying on the kindness of strangers to fund your spending)

Why I had to recognise Georgia’s breakaway regions – FT (This is a must-read piece by the President of Russia for anyone concerned about foreign policy)

North Korea Threatens Restart for Nuke Program – Asia Sentinel (more problems for Bush and co.)

Savings returns ‘beating’ shares – BBC News (true in the UK and true in the US)

Siemens in talks with Gulf and Russian SWFs – FT (I was wrong, the Germans are now being flooded by sovereign money)

CRE Version of Stated Income: “Lenders Would Believe Anything” – Calculated Risk

Nikkei: EU, Japan, U.S. Discussed Coordinated Intervention to Support Dollar – naked capitalism

Credit Suisse: “Most of the slowdown is not Olympics-related” – naked capitalism