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Tuesday, December 31

31st Dec - New Year's Eve - mostly Off-Topic




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EUROPE
Leaked Confession: Cesspool Of Greek-German CorruptionTestosterone Pit

Happy New Year Euro Zone. Now Reform.WSJ

5 Things That May Signal the Worst of Europe’s Banking Crisis is OverWSJ

Poverty in Italy hits record levelsReuters
Poverty in Italy has reached its highest level in at least 16 years as the economic crisis has bitten, driving up unemployment and cutting wages, according to a report on social cohesion.

UNITED STATES
What Comes After the Evan's Rule?Tim Duy’s Fed Watch
The end of the Evan's rule is fast approaching.  The Fed does not have a backup plan other than talk.  Are there new rules ahead?  Or is it all discretion?  And could you get a divided Fed to agree to new dovish rules in any event?  They don't seem eager to change the thresholds.  How much stress will force their hand?  Might be tough times for Fed communications ahead.

Why S&P 500 Profit Margins Will Stay Fatter For A Long TimeBI

  MACRO NUMBERS
Case-Shiller: Press Release and Graphs – Calculated Risk
Chicago PMI Tumbles As Inventories Collapse Most Since 1977 – ZH
Consumer Confidence Jumps Most In 6 Months As "Hope" Soars – ZH
Consumer Confidence: A December Bounce – dshort
Consumers End 2013 on a Happy Note – WSJ
Vital Signs: Consumers Experience Fewer Labor Pains – WSJ

OTHER
The Best Financial Advice I Ever Got (or Gave)WSJ
Wisdom from 22 successful investors.

When it comes to current account imbalances, one nation stands outSober Look

FINNISH
Lisää säästöjä tai Suomen AAA-luokitus lähteeVerkkouutiset
Suomen valtionlainojen parhaan mahdollisen kolmen A:n luottoluottoluokituksen pitäminen vaatii kahden miljardin euron säästöt kevään kehysriihessä.

Onko olemassa talouspolitiikkaa ilman rahapolitiikkaa?Tyhmyri

Eero Heinäluoma yhteisvaluutta eurosta – ettei kuitenkin liian vähän liian myöhäänTyhmyri

Suomella meni pitkään liian hyvin – entä nyt?TalSa
Kotimaan yhteiskunnallinen keskustelu junnaa pikkuasioissa, ja tulevaisuuden kohtalonkysymykset jäävät hyvin vähälle huomiolle. Yksi syy Suomen henkiseen tilaan voi olla se, että täällä meni liian kauan todella hyvin. Kysyimme kolmelta eri alan vaikuttajalta, mistä Suomessa pitäisi puhua. Jokaisen mukaan suunnanmuutosta tarvitaan pikaisesti.

OFF-TOPIC
The Moon HoursThe New Yorker
(1969) Reporters tell their side of the moon landing story

Cheating at Chess and Other PastimesBloomberg
The high-tech, high-stakes of cheating.

How Your Data Are Being Deeply MinedThe New York Review of Books

Best of Book Bits 2013 (Part II)Capital Spectator

Cameron's internet filter goes far beyond porn - and that was always the planNew Statesman
Through secretive negotiations with ISPs, the coalition has divided the internet into 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable' categories and cut people off from huge swathes of it at the stroke of a key.

How Iron Maiden turned piracy into paying customersCiteworld

The Five Paths To Being The Best At AnythingBakadesuyo

5 Expert Ways To Deal With Difficult People Bakadesuyo

Hand signals help restaurant servers communicateWaPo

The Greatest Gift of All (Economically Speaking)BB
In January 1993, Joel Waldfogel asked 86 undergraduate students whether they liked their Christmas gifts. But Waldfogel is an economist, so he phrased the question more precisely, asking them how much they would’ve paid to buy those items for themselves.

An economist’s guide to gift-givingWaPo
In January 1993, Joel Waldfogel asked 86 undergraduate students whether they liked their Christmas gifts. But Waldfogel is an economist, so he phrased the question more precisely, asking them how much they would have paid to buy those items for themselves.

Jesse Willms, the Dark Lord of the InternetThe Atlantic
How one of the most notorious alleged hustlers in the history of e-commerce made a fortune on the Web

Documents Reveal Top NSA Hacking UnitSpiegel
The NSA's TAO hacking unit is considered to be the intelligence agency's top secret weapon. It maintains its own covert network, infiltrates computers around the world and even intercepts shipping deliveries to plant back doors in electronics ordered by those it is targeting.

Shopping for Spy Gear: Catalog Advertises NSA ToolboxSpiegel
After years of speculation that electronics can be accessed by intelligence agencies through a back door, an internal NSA catalog reveals that such methods already exist for numerous end-user devices.

NSA's Secret Toolbox: Unit Offers Spy Gadgets for Every NeedSpiegel
The NSA has a secret unit that produces special equipment ranging from spyware for computers and cell phones to listening posts and USB sticks that work as bugging devices. Here are some excerpts from the intelligence agency's own catalog.



In Speed Metal, Fastest Drummers Take a BeatingWSJ
Few Humans Can Keep Up in Battle With Drum Machines

Computers Jump to the Head of the ClassNYT
If a computer could ace the entrance exam for a top university, what would that mean for mere mortals with average intellects?