MUST READS Japan in ‘aggressive’ growth move – BBC Further Yen Weakness Unlikely: Japan’s ‘Mr Yen’ – CNBC Bundesbank chief warns of threat to central bank independence – AFP Let elderly people ‘hurry up and die’, says Japanese minister – Guardian Revolutionary Japan is suddenly the centre of world affairs – Telegraph World Unemployment to Hit Record High in 2013: ILO – CNBC The Coming Debt Limit Drama: Government Wins, We Lose – Ron Paul Republicans unveil measure to suspend debt ceiling until May 19 – The Hill America’s deficits: The problem is more than fiscal – Summers, Washington Post 2012 Financial Report of the US Government – The Aleph Blog What Is Driving Growth in Government Spending? – FiveThirtyEight How Big Should Government Be? – Harvard Business Review MARKETS/INVESTING Oil prices above $95 a barrel in European trade – AP Gold edges above $1,690/oz but weak stocks cap gains – Reuters Investors Most Optimistic on Stocks in 3 1/2 Years in Poll – Bloomberg Farmland investors talk of possible Iowa bubble – Des Moines Register ‘Strong Dollar’ Is Lie Told in New Currency War – Pesek, Bloomberg Don’t worry about currency wars – Salmon, Reuters Peak oil and other fallacies: John Kemp – Reuters India hikes import tax on gold by 50% – Reuters Gold Prices “Need to Break $1700″ – BullionVault States may follow Illinois precious metals act – BullionStreet ECONOMY/WORLD/HOUSING/BANKING Why Stimulus Has Failed – Project Syndicate A brief history of macro: How we got here – Economist Housing rebound gives economy more pop – MarketWatch German Investor Confidence Increases to 2 1/2-Year High – Bloomberg Budgetary Tourism: Berlin Looks to Athens for Tips on Austerity – Spiegel Osborne Warned U.K. Credit Rating at Risk as Budget Gap Widens – Businessweek King Confronts Triple-Dip Risk as Snow Freezes U.K. – Bloomberg The Year Everyone Was Wrong (Again) About Home Prices – WSJ Wall St. Foreclosure Buying is Hot Air For New Housing Bubble – Realty Biz News Home Values Rise in 2012, But Don’t Expect High Appreciation to Continue – Zillow Geithner’s Bailouts Didn’t Create Our Mess – Bloomberg Keynesians and Ponzians – Monty Pelerin’s World
