News Links: Barron’s Roundtable’s Accuracy in 2011 Plus the Economic Perils of 2012

global economic rebalancing is likely to accelerate, almost inevitably giving rise to political tensions. With all of the problems confronting the global economy, we will be lucky if these strains do not begin to manifest themselves within the next twelve months.

With the 2012 Barron’s Roundtable likely to be published in the next few weeks, we decided to comb the archives and compile the track records of the Roundtable pundits.

The 46-year-old priest, who has been suspended, went on trial Thursday at the state court in Braunschweig. The dapd news agency reported that he showed no remorse.

If the MMT economists want to sell MMT and "modern money" as part of a massive government labor program then that’s fine. It’s my opinion that no one in the world needs to understand large government labor programs in order to understand modern money. Instead, I think we should focus on giving the world a better understanding of modern money by focusing on the proven factual pieces of MMT (monetary operations, monopoly supplier function, etc).

Albert Edwards, head of strategy at Société Générale and one of the UK’s leading "bears", said the next 12 months would be the "final year of pain and disappointment".

Indiana University study says 46 million Americans are living below the poverty line – up 27% since start of recession

Prior to entering the Dail on Wednesday the minister of finance, Michael Noonan, described as "ludicrous" talk that Ireland may need another international bailout this year, even though a top European banker from Citibank warned that this may come to pass. On his arrival Enda Kenny also denied there was any possibility the Republic would go with the begging bowl for a second time to the IMF and ECB. Those confident assertions from the two most powerful men in the Irish government could become hostages to fiscal fortune over the next 12 months.

Meer dan dertig partijen hebben belangstelling getoond om de Asset Management-tak van Dexia over te nemen. Tegen het einde van februari wil Dexia bovendien beslissen over de verkoop van de Turkse dochteronderneming Denizbank. Dat meldde de Frans-Belgische bank maandag aan Reuters.

football’s tragic flaw is that it inflicts concussions on its players with devastating frequency. Although estimates vary, several studies suggest that up to 15 percent of football players suffer a mild traumatic brain injury during the season. In fact, the chances of getting a concussion while playing high school football are approximately three times higher than the second most dangerous sport, which is girls’ soccer.

Chinese inflation edged down in December, setting the stage for a continuation of cautious policy loosening to support the slowing economy. Consumer prices rose 4.1 per cent from a year earlier, the lowest in 15 months and well below July’s peak of 6.5 per cent.

Supermarket operator Delhaize America said it will close 113 underperforming Food Lion stores mainly in markets in which the company has the least store density and will cut 4,900 jobs to focus on markets with high density.

Tiffany, the world’s second-largest luxury jewellery retailer, has cut its full-year profits forecast after sales growth over Christmas slowed in the US and Europe.

China’s trade surplus shrank last year as import and export growth slowed sharply, official data has showed, after domestic tightening measures and the global economic cris weighed on consumption.

Under the National Operations Center (NOC)’s Media Monitoring Initiative that came out of DHS headquarters in November, Washington has the written permission to retain data on users of social media and online networking platforms. Specifically, the DHS announced the NCO and its Office of Operations Coordination and Planning (OPS) can collect personal information from news anchors, journalists, reporters or anyone who may use "traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed."

Macroeconomic indicators for the United States have been better than expected for the last few months. Job creation has picked up. Indicators for manufacturing and services have improved moderately. Even the housing industry has shown some signs of life. And consumption growth has been relatively resilient. But, despite the favorable data, US economic growth will remain weak and below trend throughout 2012.

Private antitrust litigation pitting some five million retailers against Visa, MasterCard, and 13 large banks, including Bank of America and Citigroup has slipped under the radar of many analysts and investors who follow those companies, but the case may deliver a multi-billion dollar shock to bank bulls in the coming months.

Tesco saw £4bn wiped off the value of its shares after the UK’s largest retailer warned on profits and revealed "disappointing" Christmas sales figures.

A en croire son directeur de campagne, avec 300 promesses de parrainages, la candidate du Front national aurait moins de signatures que son père à la même période en 2007.

Sverige kan komma att gå med i europakten, utan att bindas av dess budgetkrav. Det är enligt statsminister Fredrik Reinfeldt (M) regeringens villkor för att vara med. Han vill att Sverige ska ansluta sig till de 17 euroländernas pakt för budgetdisciplin och starkare samordning av den ekonomiska politiken. En förutsättning är att Sverige inte binds av paktens regler, så länge Sverige inte av egen kraft har bestämt sig för att gå över till euron.

An asset price bubble pops, hitting bank balance sheets and tax revenues. As growth weakens and the economy flirts with deflation, the real burden of servicing debt increases.

The Federal Reserve released full transcripts of its meetings from 2006. Apparently, they’re real jokesters over there. These are all real.