Links: 2012-12-31
Here is the last links post for 2012. See you on the other side.
Edward
Japan
Japanese 115-Year-Old Becomes Oldest Man in History – Bloomberg
“Kimura, of Kyotango, western Japan, was born April 19, 1897, in the 30th year of the Meiji era, according to London-based Guinness. That makes him 115 years and 253 days as of today, breaking the longevity record for men held by Christian Mortensen of California, who died in 1998 at the age of 115 years and 252 days. The oldest woman in recorded history, Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, died in 1997 at the age of 122.”
BBC News – Japan economy: Latest data underlines weakness
“Industrial output fell in November as demand for exports continued to slow.
Consumer prices also dipped, indicating that deflation continues to remain a hurdle in boosting domestic demand.
Japan has been seeking to spur domestic demand to offset the decline in exports, which have fallen for six months in a row, and sustain growth.”
Japan Follow-Up – Tim Duy’s Fed Watch
“If the goal of all the talk was a weak Yen, policymakers have failed miserably. And If Abe can’t follow through with a real policy change, talking alone will continue to fail, and the recent decline in the Yen will prove ephemeral.”
Japan Rebuke to G-20 Nations May Signal Moves to Weaken Yen – Bloomberg
“The currency has dropped more than 10 percent versus the greenback since the end of 2011, set to complete the biggest annual slump since 2005. At the same time, the yen remains about 30 percent higher than it was five years ago.”
India
Weak Response of India Government in Rape Case Stokes Rage – NYTimes.com
“Protesters have repeatedly called for reforms, citing the frequent insensitivity of the police and the courts toward women and the skewed priorities of a government that devotes thousands of officers to protecting politicians and other so-called V.V.I.P.’s, even as departments too often fail to protect ordinary citizens. “I’m now beginning to feel that my government is not capable of understanding the situation, let alone solving it,” said Abhijit Sarkar, 28, a social activist who participated in a candlelight vigil last week. “During the candlelight vigil, policemen were actually laughing at us.””
India gang rape: six men charged with murder | World news | guardian.co.uk
“Indian police have charged six men with murder, hours after a woman who was gang-raped and thrown from a moving bus in Delhi nearly two weeks ago died in a Singapore hospital.
Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the men could face the death penalty if convicted. Officials said that authorities would press for the harshest possible punishment.”
Ending India’s Rape Culture by Naomi Wolf – Project Syndicate
“the conviction rate for rape prosecutions in India has fallen from 46% in 1971 to just 26% today (which, it should be noted, is higher than the conviction rates in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the United States). Indeed, the fact that most rapes are committed by men who are known to the victim should “only make it easier to apprehend the rapist.” Instead, women who go to the police are urged not to file a complaint. “Strange people will begin to assemble at the station out of nowhere to ‘explain’ to you” why that advice is correct.
CommentsThe problem, Krishnan points out, starts at the top. In the midst of the protests, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar sparked further outrage by suggesting that women carry chili powder to deter would-be rapists. And, at a press conference, he said that women should not roam around without male escorts. Otherwise, whatever happens to them is their own fault.”
United States
U.S. on Pace for Slowest Decade of Population Growth Since 1930s – Bloomberg
“The Census Bureau estimates there will be 315.1 million people living in the country on New Year’s Day, a 0.73 percent rise from last year’s estimate and 2.05 percent more than the most recent census count in April 2010. At the current pace, the nation’s population will grow by 7.3 percent during the decade, the lowest level since the 7.25 percent increase recorded between 1930 and 1940, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.”
Falling Off the Fiscal Cliff – Dallas Fed
“While many people view the fiscal cliff as a monolithic entity, it’s actually a collection of six major provisions that happen to occur at about the same time, involving: income taxes, the alternative minimum tax, labor-market support, health care taxes, Medicare reimbursement reductions and across-the-board spending cuts.”
“Until or unless Congress actually does something, 2013 will be the year of tax increases. Big tax increases.
The fiscal cliff is a bit of a misnomer, but when it comes to taxes, the metaphor is apt. If all of the tax cuts, credits, and deductions set to expire at year end do in fact expire, incomes will fall off a tax cliff. Median earners will have 4 percent less in take-home pay in 2013 than they otherwise would; households making a million dollars or more would have 11.4 percent less.”
Why Isn’t the Thirty-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage at 2.6 Percent? – Liberty Street Economics
“the primary-secondary spread is only an imperfect proxy for the degree of “pass-through” between the MBS market and the primary market. For one thing, we can’t observe the MBS yield directly, but instead must compute it under a number of assumptions that are particularly sensitive to misspecification in the current environment. Also, the spread doesn’t take into account the guarantee fees on loans charged by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (the agencies or “GSEs”), which have increased from 20 to 25 basis points before 2008 to about 50 basis points today. “
Europe
Stung Bankia investors look to courts for justice | Reuters
“Spanish savers and pensioners who have seen their money wiped out by investing in state-rescued lender Bankia are likely to seek redress in court rather than wait for any official inquiry, which looks increasingly unlikely.”
French court rejects 75 percent millionaires’ tax | Reuters
“France’s Constitutional Council on Saturday rejected a 75 percent upper income tax rate to be introduced in 2013 in a setback to Socialist President Francois Hollande’s push to make the rich contribute more to cutting the public deficit.”
El banco malo recibe hoy los activos tóxicos de las entidades nacionalizadas | Economía | EL PAÍS
Spain’s bad bank gets 36 billion euros of toxic assets from Bankia, NCG Banco, Catalunya Banc and Banco de Valencia today. Estimates call for 55 billion euros in assets to move to the bad bank by February.
El euríbor cae al mínimo histórico del 0,549% y rebaja las hipotecas 1.200 euros
12-month euribor, the indicator most used to calculate mortgages in the eurozone, fell to a historic low of 0.549%. That corresponds to a reduction of 100 euros per month for Spanish mortgage holders when compared to mortgage rates at the beginning of the year and puts it below the policy rate of the ECB of 0.75%. This suggests that the market believes the ECB will cut rates.
Technology
Amazon Is Not A Commerce Company | TechCrunch
“2013 will be the big year for the retail and computing giant. It’s all coming together with its growing cloud infrastructure, voluminous data streams and content. It’s what Ray Wang of Constellation Research calls “matrix commerce.”
Wang argues that Amazon is not a commerce company at all. It’s a big data company that has developed a cloud infrastructure that is profitable and subsidizes its retail operations. It has the mobile devices and content that it can spread through a network of users who pay to get it.”
The top 10 embarrassing tech flops of 2012 – latimes.com
“As 2012 comes to a close we take a look back at the biggest “oops” moments of the last year. Whether it was an advertising misstep (Facebook’s “Chair” commercial), or a product released before it was ready (Apple Maps), or just an idea that was ill-received (homeless men as Wi-Fi hotspots), we tried to compose a list of the times when the major players lost control of the narrative. “
iOS Apps From Google and Others Improve on Apple Defaults – Liz Gannes – Mobile – AllThingsD
“As I took a moment to edit my iPhone homescreen this weekend, I realized that I use very few of Apple’s iOS apps anymore.
There are several iOS apps I have barely ever opened — Stocks, Compass and the other random preloads. But for most of the most essential apps, one by one, I’ve found alternatives that I prefer to Apple’s defaults.”
Other News
BBC News – Kinder children are more popular
“Performing deliberate acts of kindness makes pre-teen children more popular with their peers, say scientists.
A team led by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, “assigned” children three acts of kindness each week for four weeks.
After the four weeks, children were happier and more liked by classmates.”
Hedge funds reap record profits from bets on QE – Telegraph
“Michael Hintze, the founder of CQS, had generated 32pc on his $3.9bn (£2.4bn) flagship multi-strategy fund by the end of November.
In his latest newsletter, he wrote: “We have witnessed massively accommodative monetary policies globally since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.” He added: “Overall, I believe central bank actions will continue to support credit and equity markets in 2013.”
Crispin Odey, the boss of Odey Asset Management, generated 26.6pc returns at the end of November, turning his flagship fund around from a heavy loss of 21pc in 2011. Lansdowne Partners, the London-based fund that correctly forecast the banking crisis in 2007, made 16pc on its $6bn equity diversified fund and 14.8pc on its global financial fund.”
China’s economy revs up as manufacturing activity hits 19-month high | South China Morning Post
“The pace of activity in China’s vast manufacturing sector hit its fastest rate in December since May last year, a survey of private factory managers showed, with a sub-index for new orders pointing to continued strength in the new year.
The final reading for the HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Survey rose to 51.5 in December, well above the final reading of 50.5 in November and the preliminary reading of 50.9 published in the middle of the month.”
Flying Is Safest Since Dawn of Jet Age – WSJ.com
“There have been 22 fatal crashes world-wide this year, a number that includes all passenger and cargo flights, down from 28 crashes in 2011, according to data assembled by the Aviation Safety Network, which compiles accident and incident information online. That crash count is down from a 10-year average of 34 fatal accidents per year.
The U.S. hasn’t had a fatal accident since a commuter plane crashed near Buffalo, N.Y., in 2009.”
The tech debate blasts off (a linkfest) – Towards a leisure society
“In a nutshell there is too much leisure time being devoted to productivity. We are too productive at ever cheaper (or free) rates, and as a consequence the pool of salaried jobs (those which must offer a good salary to attract specific skills) is diminishing quickly.
The system provides a comfortable level of life very easily indeed.
That, at least, is my entirely non-substantiated theory.”
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