News Links 01/02/2012

I snitt 41,04 millioner mennesker var sysselsatt i Tyskland i 2011, ifølge landets statistiske sentralbyrå Destatis. Det er en økning på 535.000 eller 1,3 prosent fra 2010.

O Banco Central Europeu comprou mais 462 milhões de euros em títulos de dívida soberana no mercado secundário na última semana do ano, elevando assim para 211,5 mil milhões de euros o total desta dívida no seu balanço.

Alcohol doesn’t make you do anything. But a few glasses of wine sure can quiet that voice in the back of your head that tries to tell you, "We don’t actually need that Tim Tebow Fathead wall sticker,"

In an interview conducted as he heads into retirement, German Constitutional Court Judge Udo Di Fabio explains why he believes the high court’s recent decisions on the European Union will not necessarily hinder further European integration and how he believes debates over possible changes to Germany’s constitution to strip power from Karlsruhe are "phoney."

South Korea’s manufacturing sector shrank the most in nearly three years in December as global demand cooled, a survey showed on Monday, but President Lee Myung-bak cited inflation as a bigger risk in a year of big elections.

Euro zone manufacturing activity declined for a fifth consecutive month in December, although at a slightly slower rate than November’s 28-month record low, a survey showed on Monday, suggesting the decline would continue in the early months of 2012.

Asian factory output remained weak in December, with Chinese manufacturers narrowly avoiding contraction and South Korea’s industrial production shrinking the most in almost three years, while Europe data this week is expected to point to a recession.

Washington’s minimum reached $9.04 an hour for 2012 from $8.67 previously, as the state raised the wage floor in line with inflation, Reuters reported. A total of 10 states tie their minimum wages to inflation.

Tienduizenden Hongaren gingen vanavond de straat op om te demonstreren tegen de regering van premier Viktor Orbán en nieuwe wetgeving die de democratie zou beschadigen.

Apparently, this article says the Germans are testing a 75% Greek haircut scenario.

Awarded the title of one of 2009s 25 Fittest Guys in the World by Mens Fitness Magazine, Rich is an elite-level amateur ultra-distance endurance athlete [and a man I knew back in high school]

Dexia Bank biedt twee nieuwe soorten spaarboekjes aan. Daarmee komt het totaal op negen. Een record, volgens spaargids.be.

O Governo da Alemanha está a estudar a possibilidade de um perdão de 75% da dívida pública grega detida por privados, segundo o site grego Euro2Day, citado pela agência Bloomberg.

Recently, I’ve gained some insight into the economic debates between the various camps that claim to have a solution to our current problems. In addition to tying up some loose ends regarding a century-old debate, this insight gave me a good explanation of why standard dismissals of the so-called recalculation story (in explaining recessions like the current one) are making a subtle error.