Ahhhh

Forgot to add this excellent link:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/travel/jodi-ettenberg-on-her-life-as-a-long-term-traveler.html

I have been following this woman for around a year so it is cool that she is in the NY Times now . . .

Morning Reading 2.27.2012

Morning Reading

Canadians want Irish workers, not American ones (lower wages?) - Irish Times (Martin Wall)

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0226/breaking9.html

China Fact of the Day - Marginal Revolution (Tyler Cowen)

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/02/china-fact-of-the-day-6.html

I expect that most people will read this differently, and I respect that, but this sure does make it seem that the free market can even do art funding better than the government.  Possibly bad that they have to monetize everything, rather than just doing, but is that the worst thing in the world? - TPM (Carl Franzen)

http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/kickstarter-expects-to-provide-more-funding-to-the-arts-than-nea.php

The hotels of Mexico City - David Lida (David Lida)

http://davidlida.com/?p=1912

Be Still, Warren Speaks

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2011ltr.pdf

Hong Kong a World Away for Many Chinese - NBC News (Bo Gu)

http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/14/10407103-hong-kong-is-still-a-world-away-from-mainland-china-for-many

Morning Reading 2.24.2012

Exciting news ahead of the Apple announcement in March

http://www.ministryoftofu.com/2012/02/picture-of-the-day-iphone-gas-stove/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MiniTofublog+%28Ministry+of+Tofu+-+Featured+Articles%29

The counter argument on China

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/02/24/crisis-what-crisis-how-to-beat-back-the-china-bears/?mod=WSJBlog

More from Michael Pettis

http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2012/02/when-will-china-emerge-from-the-global-crisis/

Psychological Poverty Trap?

http://www.haaretz.com/business/the-psychological-poverty-trap-1.414260

What can't computers do?

http://www.mining.com/2012/02/19/rio-tinto-invests-us518-million-in-autonomous-trains-for-pilbara-iron-ore-rail-network-in-western-australia/?utm_source=digest-en-fe-120223&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digest

Morning Reading 2.23.2012

Morning Reading

Tuktuks!
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/02/21/southeast-asias-three-wheeled-vehicles/

There is some other interesting stuff on Global Voices you may enjoy

Morning Reading 2.21.2012

Morning Reading
Why Don't Americans Riot Anymore - Emily Badger (The Atlantic)
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/02/what-dont-americans-riot-anymore/1274/

The Jazz District Authenticity Problem - Brandon Reynolds (The Atlantic)
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2012/02/kansas-city-jazz-district-authenticity-problem/1284/

Hollywood by the Numbers - Horace Nayeri (Asymco)
http://www.asymco.com/2012/02/07/hollywood-by-the-numbers/

Humans Can Hibernate - (Irish Times)
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0219/breaking6.html

For the Beard in Your Life
http://imgur.com/ovNwF

Switcheroo
http://sincerelyhana.com/projects/switcheroo

The World's Most Interesting Man - Margalit Fox (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/us/john-fairfax-who-rowed-across-oceans-dies-at-74.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all?src=tp

Chinese Inflation - Editorial Board  (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204909104577232852381561544.html

Morning Reading 2.15.2012

Morning Reading
Aging is an unfortunate reality, but this is a really cool way of showing it - Marginal Revolution (Alex Tabarrok)
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/02/the-age-of-reason.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+marginalrevolution%2Ffeed+%28Marginal+Revolution%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Was it really a good idea to give full military honors to the VP of China? - WSJ (Nathan Hodge)
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/02/15/xi%E2%80%99s-pentagon-visit-long-on-ceremony-short-on-substance/?mod=WSJBlog

Standup Economist - Greg Mankiw's Blog (Greg Mankiw)
http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2012/02/latest-from-standup-economist.html

Morning Reading 2.13.2012

Morning Reading
Yum! - Uncornered Market (Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott)
http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2012/02/carnes-asadas-market-oaxaca-mexico-panorama/

For all the economists looking to express their love this coming Valentine's day . . .
http://fosslien.com/heart/

Cats in Guangzhou, something we wouldn't no anything about without the internet - Isidor's Fugue (Brian Glucroft)
http://www.isidorsfugue.com/2012/02/store-cats-in-guangzhou-china.html

Volatility ETF's examined - Institutional Investor (Steve Rosenbush)
http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Article/2975865/Markets-Trading/The-Upside-and-Down-of-ETFs-that-Index-Volatility.html?ArticleId=2975865&single=true

So, uh, this could be bad - Reuters (Richard Pullin and Koh Gui Qing)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-china-debt-idUSTRE81C07420120213

A story about the Washington Post in the New York Times, how meta - New York Times (Jeremy Peters)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/business/media/the-washington-post-recast-for-a-digital-future.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all

Morning Reading 2.10.2012

Morning Reading
I couldn't let this one just fly by.  This is a good example of the valuable services that can be provided online on the cheap now - The Next Web
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2012/02/06/this-popular-icelandic-website-that-helps-avoid-incest/

China has a huge number of citizens overseas, many of whom are in dangerous areas.  The government is going to have to start protecting them if they don't want more to get taken hostage - Wall Street Journal (Andrew Erickson and Gabe Collins)
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/02/10/chinas-new-challenge-protecting-its-citizens-abroad/?mod=WSJBlog

Fake Rhino attempts fake escape? - BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16950361

Morning Reading 2.8.2012

Morning Reading
An interesting insight on a "microtrend" that I have just been picking up on myself: women are getting more successful, men are stagnating or getting worse.  Good for workplace and income equality, probably bad for marriage markets.  It seems like our economic equality is moving faster than our views on gender roles and I wouldn't be surprised if the next couple of decades are rough on young successful women.  Look at DC: lots of young, attractive, stable, upper-middle class woman; not a lot of similar men.  There are either going to be a lot of mismatched relationships, imported rich men (China? Women are in short supply there . . . arbitrage opportunity), or single ladies.  Buyer's market for single stable men in the district. - Marginal Revolution (Tyler Cowen)
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/02/from-whence-comes-this-sudden-wave-of-economic-determinism.html

Uh oh, people don't trust the Eurozone banks - Alea (Alea)
http://alea.tumblr.com/post/17262775869/eurozone-deposits-overnight-agreed-maturity

A nice long report on global liquidity.  Didn't read it yet, but it looks interesting - Bank of International Settlements
http://www.bis.org/publ/cgfs45.pdf

Morning Reading 2.3.2012

Morning Reading
Just for Mark (note: wax seal optional)
http://shop.paperfinger.com/collections/custom-made/products/love-letter-transcription

Why do people pay so much money to consultants - Overcoming Bias (Robin Hanson)
http://www.overcomingbias.com/2012/01/why-so-much-consulting.html

Morning Reading 2.2.2012

Morning Reading: Facebook Edition
Facebook files their S-1 in anticipation of an IPO.  It is worth a gander for the amazing usage rate facts alone (92 million daily users . . . that is 92,000,000 people using their website EVERY DAY! . . . . . oh and wait, that was in the first quarter of 2009, now the average daily user figure is 483,000,000 DAILY.  It should be noted that this is "users" not "people" because of corporate accounts.  Still outrageous.)
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000119312512034517/d287954ds1.htm

Stainless steel is overrated.  So are granite countertops.  I am more upset about the "kitchen bubble" than the "housing bubble", although they went/go hand in hand - The Atlantic (Megan McArdle)
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/how-did-stainless-steel-appliances-get-so-popular/252385/

Morning Reading 2.1.2012

Morning Reading
Excellent collection of Chinese "Friendship Projects".  I can't help but think this is a far more effective foreign policy than the American role of stepping in when war comes.  China gets to be the "fun dad", the US is the "mean mom".  Be sure to read the comments at the end, always interesting to see the issues that concern the netizens - Ministry of Tofu
http://www.ministryoftofu.com/2012/02/photos-generous-gifts-to-less-developed-countries-from-china/

Continuing the discussion of ISM seasonality . . . they are making historical revisions - Calculated Risk Blog
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2012/02/ism-seasonality.html

Continuing aftermath of cadmium spill in Southern China - Wall Street Journal
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/01/31/photos-china-struggles-to-clean-up-cadmium-spill/tab/slideshow/

Rapid iron ore capacity expansions in Australia still needed?  Bonus "Australia in a picture" in this article: a kangaroo on iron ore boulders - Wall Street Journal (Robb Stewart)
http://blogs.wsj.com/dealjournalaustralia/2012/01/31/chinas-slowing-no-worries-for-aussie-iron-ore-miners/

Continuing the discussion on the Catholic Church not covering birth control in their health insurance (a little bird tells me that a certain Catholic institution in DC does offer employees an alternate option from "Catholic care", but students are tied in and possibly others).  For me, the question is not of right or wrong here, it is: how much freedom over medical freedom are you willing to give up for government management of healthcare?  Difficult questions like "does the Catholic Church have a right to pursue its values through its health insurance" only get messier when you substitute the "Federal Government" for "Catholic Church" in that statement.  How many people can say that they feel well-aligned with the values of the US Federal Government? - The Atlantic (Megan McArdle)
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/01/should-the-church-have-to-dispense-birth-control/252321/

A book review that doubles as a criticism of much of current coverage of China.  Interesting throughout.  But it does beg the question of why we feel so comfortable with our stereotypes of some countries and so vehemently challenge others.  Possibly due to the incredibly complicated relationship the US has with China . . .
http://chinageeks.org/2012/01/book-review-why-china-will-never-rule-the-world/

The Efficient Markets Hypothesis lives - TheMoneyIllusion (Scott Sumner)
http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=12801