News: 2013-12-03
Markets and Economy
We need to talk about deflation, again [Update] | FT Alphaville
5 Takeaways From World-Wide Manufacturing Reports – Five Things – WSJ
Housing
House building drives surge in UK construction activity | Business | theguardian.com
UK must be more alert to housing bubble risks – FT.com
Biggest Bank in Norway Dismisses Hard Landing in Housing Bet – Bloomberg
Norway Poised to Relax Rules to Fight House Price Deflation – Bloomberg
This will end badly. In Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands we also saw household debt to GDP over 200% and in each case, it ended in crisis and massive loss socialization.
Norway to Fight Record Household Debt Load as Government Formed – Bloomberg
Size Up the World, Find Danger in Norway – Barrons.com
Great interview, with ideas on Apple, stock valuation bonds, cyclically adjusted PE and much, much more. MUST READ.
“Jeffrey Gundlach and Robert Shiller see opportunities in stocks and bonds—and massive housing inflation in Norway.”
China’s monetary squeeze collides with housing bubble | Gavyn Davies
North America
Chrysler November U.S. Sales Rise 16% – WSJ.com
No, Sales Didn’t Fall 2.7 Percent Thanksgiving Weekend – Bloomberg
I tend to be sceptical of the negative slant around US retail sales, especially with the ISM hitting new highs. New orders are at 63.6 on the ISM. That’s huge. Unless this is all inventory building, you should expect retail sales to be increasing at a moderate clip.
Calculated Risk: ISM Manufacturing index increases in November to 57.3
U.S. ISM Manufacturing Index Rose to 57.3 in November – Bloomberg
Europe
ekathimerini.com | Eurozone factory prices slump to nearly 4-year low in October
Iceland plans €900m debt relief scheme for homeowners – Independent.ie
EU-Vergleich: Löhne in Deutschland steigen überdurchschnittlich – SPIEGEL ONLINE
Labor costs are rising in Germany above the average in the eurozone at 2.8% versus 2.2% in the first half of 2013. In 2012, labor costs sank 5.8% in Greece and 4.9% in Portugal as they attempted internal devaluation.
La actividad manufacturera en España vuelve a contraerse en noviembre | Economía | Cinco Días
Spain was an outlier in the European data as the manufacturing PMI fell into recession territory after everyone was saying Spain had emerged from recession. The PMI was 48.6 versus 50.9 in October. This shows how fragile the recovery in Europe still is.
EU regulator slams rating agencies over sovereign debt – FT.com
Emerging Markets
Brazil’s Economy Posts Worst Performance in Two Years – WSJ.com
Gabon sets minimum yield on new 2024 Eurobond | Capital City | IFRe
Technology
Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 Review: Truly Excellent Hardware, Thoroughly Limited Software
Stock Android Isn’t Perfect: 4.4 KitKat Edition
Huawei calling it quits in the U.S. networking market — Tech News and Analysis
Supreme Court Refuses Consideration Of Amazon Sales Tax Case | TechCrunch
Amazon drones face hurdles to get off the ground – FT.com
Economics
The ‘scientific’ attitude of modern economists — decidedly unscientific | LARS P. SYLL
U.S. Immigrants’ Attitudes Toward Libertarian Values
Bruegel | Blogs review: The natural interest rate framework
Post-Keynesians consider the natural rate of interest a bogus concept. I thought I would flag this as a disputable economic concept even though I have used it as a talking point in the past.
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