Financial Markets and Economy
The only way to fix the economy might be for the stock market to 'collapse' (Business Insider)
The US economy and financial system is a mess of contradictions right now.
Bond yields are hitting record lows while the stock market ishitting record highs. The labor market is signaling full employment, but GDP growthremains lackluster.
The 100 Richest Tech Billionaires In The World In 2016 (Forbes)
Despite a tumultuous year for the stock market, it was a good time to be a tech billionaire, The titans on FORBES’ second annual list of the world’s 100 Richest In Techundefined are worth a combined $892 billion, 6% more than a year ago.
Confidence Among U.S. Homebuilders Improved in August on Sales (Bloomberg)
Confidence among U.S. homebuilders climbed in August as steady job growth and low interest rates boosted prospects for the residential real-estate market in the second half of the year, according to data Monday from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo.
Yuan Declines Most in a Week as Data Reignite Economy Concerns (Bloomberg)
China’s yuan declined the most in a week and sovereign bond yields were near a decade-low as weaker-than-expected data reignited concern over growth in Asia’s largest economy.
The U.S. Economy Needs to Kick Its Car Habit (Bloomberg)
Americans love cars. It would be comforting, though, if the world's largest economy weren't quite so dependent on people buying more of them with borrowed money.
The world's largest shipping company has 2 dire warnings for the global economy (Business Insider)
Maersk is warning about two important parts of the global economy.
All or Nothing in China Bond Recoveries Show Bankruptcy Flaws (Bloomberg)
Of the 26 local public notes with failures since Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co. became the first company to renege on an onshore note payment in 2014, nine have been fully repaid and only one was partially made good, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Most of the rest haven’t released information on repayment plans and Moody’s Investors Service bemoans the lack of a transparent restructuring process.
The Coming Meltdown in College Education & Why The Economy Won’t Get Better Any Time Soon (Blog Maverick)
This is what I see when i think about higher education in this country today:
Remember the housing meltdown? Tough to forget isn’t it. The formula for the housing boom and bust was simple. A lot of easy money being lent to buyers who couldn’t afford the money they were borrowing. That money was then spent on homes with the expectation that the price of the home would go up and it could easily be flipped or refinanced at a profit.
China Says Other Topics Must Not Divert G-20’s Economy Focus (Bloomberg)
China will seek to keep Group of 20 leaders focused on economic development when they meet next month in Hangzhou.
Top Marginal Tax Rates and Real Economic Growth, Part 1 (Angry Bear)
The first graph shows the top marginal income tax rate on a given year along the y axis, and the percent change in real GDP per capita from year that year to the next along the x axis. (Example: tax rate in 1980 v. change in real GDP per capita from 1980 to 1981.) The graph begins at the start of the Eisenhower administration:
British Millennials Are ‘Collateral Damage’ From Pension Gap (Bloomberg)
Britain’s millennials, already suffering for the economic mistakes of the past, now face the prospect of having to pay for the country’s future.
Politics
After Saying Clinton Is ‘Owned’ By Wall Street, Trump Proposes A Ban On Financial Regulation — ThinkProgress (Think Progress)
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has spent much of his campaign blasting his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for being too close to Wall Street. Yet in a speech focused on economic policy on Monday, Trump will call for a moratorium on all new regulations for the financial industry.
Has history misjudged Genghis Khan? (Holy Kaw)
Was Genghis Khan really just a brutal conqueror or did he pave the way for modern civilization?
Technology
Indians Spurn Snacks, Shampoo to Load Their Smartphones (The Wall Street Journal)
A new wave of affordable smartphones has brought hundreds of millions of Indians online for the first time, giving them access to better education, jobs and entertainment. But there is one sector that isn’t thrilled with this development: consumer-goods companies.
The return of the machinery question (The Economist)
THERE IS SOMETHING familiar about fears that new machines will take everyone’s jobs, benefiting only a select few and upending society. Such concerns sparked furious arguments two centuries ago as industrialisation took hold in Britain. People at the time did not talk of an “industrial revolution” but of the “machinery question”.
Health and Life Sciences
VR technology helps paraplegics regain leg function (BI Intelligence)
Following a 12-month study of eight paraplegic patients, Duke University has published results that suggest that virtual reality (VR) technology can help aid in restoring mobility in patients suffering from a chronic spinal cord injury, reports TechCrunch.
Life on the Home Planet
The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter emerges: Social activism on Twitter (Pew Research Center)
In recent years, social media have become a common way for political groups and social movements to organize. On Twitter’s 10-year anniversary, the site published a list of the most used hashtags related to social causes. Two of the top three were directly related to issues of race. According to Twitter, #Ferguson was the most used social-issue hashtag in the 10-year history of the platform, while #BlackLivesMatter was third.
Rising Box Office Masks Glut of Big-Budget Film Flops (The Wall Street Journal)
Global box-office receipts are up slightly from a record-setting 2015. Yet Hollywood is having one of its glummest summers in a long time.
Buying A Used Car? John Oliver Has The Ugly Truth About Auto Loans (The Huffington Post)
John Oliver, host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” found disturbing similarities between the easy loans dished out for used cars and the mortgage crisis that devastated the economy in 2008.
The 28 Schools That Mint The Most Billionaire Alumni (Forbes)
Some universities are known for strong liberal arts programs, others might be top engineering schools. But a few excel at a more unique task: minting Forbes 400 members. As part of Forbes’ annual, outcomes-based ranking of the top 660 colleges in America, we looked at how many billionaires a school has produced (measured by the undergraduate alma maters of the nation’s 400 wealthiest individuals).
Who’s Winning in Rio: Bloomberg’s Olympic Medal Tracker (Bloomberg)
Throughout the 2016 Rio Games, Bloomberg is tracking the medals won by each country. Wealthier nations tend to win more medals overall. But when you look at the ratio of medals to gross domestic product, or even medals per capita, bigger and richer is not always better. Click the columns below to sort.
