For complex reasons we have promoted owning your home as a sine qua non of being American. It worked to disastrous effect in the subprime mortgage crisis. Now world over young people are having trouble raising a down payment to purchase a home. Is this good or bad, or simply necessary? TO RENT OR TO BUY
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron will preside this week over the Group of Eight summit in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, and he’s already telegraphed his three top themes: trade, taxes and transparency. Trade, Tax and Transparency at the G-8
10,000 funds are located in the Cayman Islands. Can the Caymans afford to crackdown on outside workers? Are their native workers up to snuff in big finance. Cayman Islands Paradise Lost?
Does buying startups for talent and product make a good, or a better company? The pharmaceutical business suggests no. Mayer bought 10 companies before she acquired Tumblr. Time will tell if this is a workable strategy. 10 Startups Marissa Mayer Bought Before Tumblr
At a time when so many government agencies have been captured by the industries they oversee, it’s hard not to notice when someone like Benjamin Lawsky comes along and stirs things up. Since 2011, the 43-year-old former prosecutor has been superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, which oversees banks and insurers. And this may be his most significant hour yet.
Jonathan Weil of Bloomberg comments on regulation. Regulating the Insurers
More information about Insurence on German side Databank Versicherungen / Insurance
A Cyprus criminal court has sentenced a former television presenter, her brother and two other men to life in prison after finding them guilty of premeditated murder in the execution-style killing of the country’s most prominent media baron.
Cyprus court hands life sentence to Ex Tv Host
Is the Czech government a tool of organized crime? Prague Government Raids
Huda al-Ajmi, a 37-year-old teacher, on Monday received the longest known sentence for online dissent in the Gulf state. She was convicted of insulting Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, calling for the overthrow of the regime and misusing her mobile phone, according to a copy of the lower court ruling obtained by the AFP news agency. Article
Brazil’s currency in free fall, as reported on Bloomberg. Article An end of the year report from the International Monetary Fund suggests some reasons why. Brazil Stability Report.
The protests show that Turkey’s political fault lines have shifted. Scenes of tattooed youths helping women in headscarves stricken by tear gas have bust tired stereotypes about secularism versus Islam. Many protesters were born in the 1990s—reflecting the bulge of teenagers and twenty-somethings in the population. As many women as men were among them. The Economist reports. A woman in red is sprayed with tear gas.
