News Links: Europe can learn from Japan’s austerity endgame as Japan’s economy continues to shrink

The road to fiscal hell is sometimes paved with the best intentions. As Europe’s politicians seek to win electorates round to brutal budget cuts, they would do well to look to the experience of Japan, which shows how counter-productive austerity can be in a post-bubble recession. When Japan’s bubble economy imploded, public finances were in surplus and government debt was a mere 20 per cent

Japan’s economy shrank a bigger-than-expected 0.6 percent in October-December, hurt by slowing global growth, Thai floods and a strong yen, casting doubt about expectations that growth will resume this quarter as Europe’s debt crisis clouds the outlook.

Greece’s parliament approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill Monday to secure a second EU/IMF bailout and avoid national bankruptcy, as buildings burned across central Athens and violence spread around the country.

She’s been hit with a vicious stomach bug. While picking up some medicine and supplies at Kroger yesterday, the worst happened: she threw up in the dairy aisle, a situation that could have been a lot worse if employees and fellow customers had been rude. But they weren’t at all. They cleaned up after her, and were genuinely concerned for her well-being

absolutely nobody saw this coming. Lin was cut during the pre-season by the Golden State Warriors, and then again by the Houston Rockets, one of the more statistically savvy teams in the league. Lin had been undrafted out of college

The shock and grief from fans worldwide was immediate: Houston’s pipes and presence, her grit and glamour had made her an icon.

The singer is found unresponsive at the Beverly Hilton hours before Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy Awards party. Once a ruler of the pop charts, Houston had seen addiction take a toll on her success.