Best Of Economics On The Web This Week

India

Why is the Commissioner for Rail Safety under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in India?

Looks like ITC would rather not produce cigarettes than display big health warnings.

The country with the world’s fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world – 44% in four years. Fifth largest stockpile in the world by 2025 with 250 nuclear warheads and ahead of Britain, if growth continues at this rate. A three-minute video by Fareed Zakaria – must watch.

Taking stock of world nuclear warheads now.

India union government caps state governments’ fiscal deficit, says Bloomberg. Is that true?

A MINT story on Rajasthan’s land titling law.

Asia

Two charts in this Andy Mukherjee piece on Singapore budget will bring no cheer to the government or citizens of Singapore.

Wall Street Journal has a detailed account of the personal expenses of the Malaysian Prime Minister and his wife. The revelations might be the final denouement.

China

Is China an optimal currency union? A valid question to ask as property prices diverge widely across the nation.

A yoga college in China attracts thousands

The header says it all: ‘Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong accuses HSBC of political censorship for rejecting bank account bids’.

A very useful slide deck from Royal Bank of Scotland on China via ValueWalk.

How to get money out of China, one swipe at a time?

Europe

German business groups and individual companies are now growing more pessimistic about the refugees’ job prospects. (from March 16, 2016)

Sweden’s refugee costs will top defence spending in 2016 (from March 17, 2016)

A long FT story on how Switzerland is confident of its brand, especially its private banking.

Cash is King in Switzerland.

Spain’s budget deficit will come in at 5.2% of GDP in 2015 vs. a target of 4.2% and expectation of 4.5%.

Spanish PM wants the Spaniards to kick their siesta habit. Does not sound very wise.

Bank of America does not want to utter the word Brexit.

The Chinese ministry of commerce said in a terse statement that it was slapping anti-dumping tariffs of 14.4pc to 46.3pc on companies from the EU, South Korea, and Japan, claiming that China had suffered “substantial damage” from trade abuses. In a macabre twist, the measures target the Tata plant in Port Talbot, which produces the specialist flat-rolled electrical steel used in transformers. A tiny amount is exported to China.

Ratan Tata said that Tata Steel’s UK steel operations were underinvested and overmanned.

On a nation that has forgotten to save. UK’s current account deficit is approaching or at 7% of GDP.

In a clear verdict but marked by low turnout (but above the minimum threshold of 30% of voters voting), Dutch voters rejected the EU-Ukraine trade deal.

Scuffle over sausages at Daimler-Chrysler AGM

Support for one of Germany’s ruling parties has sunk to a near 20-year low and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives have lost ground too

Panama Papers

A good article on the Panama papers. AEP in ‘The Telegraph’ on the Panama papers.

In 2013, David Cameron wrote to the EU pressing for weaker laws that would not scrutinise private trusts set up to avoid or escape taxation. That has come to light now. Further, he hasadmitted to benefiting from his father’s private offshore trusts set up by Panama law firm. He has capped the benefits at GBP30, 000.00. How fortunes change?!

America

Larry Summers has an intellectually plausible explanation for the record rise in US corporate profitability in this cycle.

Where to hide when there are no profits? Not stocks.

Nine-year old reporter breaks crime news in her suburb.

The connection between smart phones, blue light, hi-tech and our sleep deficit.

US labour market in twenty charts – it is a monthly thing from the Bureau of Labour Statistics

Global

Saudi Arabia bans vessels shipping Iranian crude from entering its waters

IMF estimates that economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will slide to a 17-year low in 2016 of 2.8%, down from 3.5% a year ago.

A Fitch survey of institutional investors finds that many of them expect default rates to rise.