Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.
- Russia cuts off gas supplies to Ukraine (Jack Farchy, Kathrin Hille, Roman Olearchyk and Christian Oliver, Financial Times) For the third time in eight years Russia has shut of gas deliveries to Ukraine. Russian energy gient Gazprom says they are owed $4.6 billion for past deliveries and will only deliver in the future for payment in advance. Gazprom has insisted that supplies to Europe will not be disrupted but prices did rise by about 2% in Europe where natural gas had been in a downtrend (-40% just in 2014).
- ‘Bionic Pancreas’ Astonishes Diabetes Researchers (Maggie Fox, NBC News) The Apple iPhone 4 is the controller for a new, still experimental automated pancreas function. This system has been used by 52 patients with 100% success for 24/7 monitoring and automatic pumping of insulin and glucagon to maintain blood sugar levels in an acceptable zone every instant, even when sleeping. In testing thus far patients have been closely observed during the course of the experiments. This week 10 patients will use the system under real life, go-to-work conditions with out direct medical supervision. In this case the data will be sent by the iPhone controller to a hospital but intervention will occur only if there is an emergency. Another experiment will be run this summer with 30 young patients (age 6-11) attending three different summer camps. Two more years of testing will be needed before this technology will be generally available. During that time costs will be under pressure to make the treatment widely affordable.
- World Powers Keeping Firm Grip on Nuclear Weapons Arsenals: Report (Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams) Hat tip to Rob Carter. Nuclear weapons remain embedded in military strategies around the world. Nations known to possess nuclear weapons are modernizing their arsenals while failing to rapidly cut stockpiles. China, India, and Pakistan are actively expanding their nuclear weapons. Read the annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
- Weekly Update: Housing Tracker Existing Home Inventory up 13.7% year-over-year on June 16th (Bill McBride, Calculated Risk) In each of the three preceding years inventories were flat or declining in June. We have to go back to 2010 to find inventories still rising in June. You remember the great housing market of 2010? For details on what is going on see the recent analysis by Keith Jurow: Why the Housing Market ‘Recovery’ Is Over.
Click on graph for larger image at Calculated Risk.
- We are Open to Discussions of Iran about Iraq (John Kerry, Yahoo! News, Washington Post) According to the Financial Times informal talks have already been held. US rules out military co-operation with Iran over Sunni rebels (Najmeh Bozorgmehr, Geoff Dyer and Borzou Daragahi, Financial Times)
Click on picture of John Kerry for interview segment with Katie Couric.
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