Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
France has said goodbye to its infamous 75% income tax on individuals earning more than 1 million euros this past weekend, returning to a top marginal income tax rate of 45%. The change, effective February 1, is a blow to the French Socialist party’s signature redistribution measure, the same remedy supported by popular French economist Thomas Piketty…
Author Philip Pullman has resigned as patron of the Oxford Literary Festival in protest at its refusal to pay authors. He announced his resignation on Twitter, saying: “Because of the Oxford Literary Festival’s attitude to paying speakers (they don’t) I can’t remain as a Patron any longer. I’ve resigned.” He added: “They never have [paid],…
Predictions about financial markets are, almost without exception, notoriously wrong and worthless. With that caveat: we have our first respectable major DOOM prediction of 2016! Are there good reasons to be panicky about global financial markets right now? Absolutely! Oil prices are cratering to unbelievable lows, China’s growth that’s been propelling the whole world is…
Paul Graham is Still Asking to be Eaten An Obviously Critical Response to “Economic Inequality” by Paul Graham robotorgy.tumblr.com I’ve been asked by a bunch of people today to comment on this essay “Economic Inequality,”penned by self-described “essayist” Paul Graham, the subject of a poem I recently wrote entitled, “Paul Graham is Asking to be…
Global markets are facing a crisis and investors need to be very cautious, billionaire George Soros told an economic forum in Sri Lanka on Thursday. China is struggling to find a new growth model and its currency devaluation is transferring problems to the rest of the world, Soros said in Colombo. A return to positive…
Singapore’s economy grew 2 percent in the last three months of 2015, according to initial data released this week. The fall in global stocks in the previous quarter suggests that estimate may be too high, and that it could get revised down next month. The MSCI World Index, which shows stocks prices in developed nations and…
Barclays Plc plans to shut most of its cash-equities business in the Asia-Pacific region as Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley pushes to reduce costs, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The near-exit from cash equities is part of plans to eliminate about 50 percent of jobs at the wider equities unit in the…
Yahoo! Inc. is planning to eliminate jobs as part of Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer’s effort to cut costs and revive growth at the struggling web portal, according to a person familiar with the matter. The plan will help the company streamline operations, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter…
Markets are in turmoil. Here’s what people are talking about today. Chinese stocks close just 29 minutes after open China’s stock exchanges closed for the day at 9:59 a.m. local time after the CSI 300 Index fell more than 7 percent. The selloff was sparked after the central bank cuts its yuan reference rate by…
U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen recently issued a final class action certification in O’Connor v. Uber. Judge Chen expanded the class to include drivers bound by 2014 and 2015 arbitration clauses, finding that those clauses were unenforceable on public policy grounds. Since the issuance of the order, Uber has sought to delay the trial and…