What We Read Today 27 October 2013

Econintersect: Click Read more >> below graphic to see today’s list.

The top of today’s reading list syas that Europe is on the way to a Japanese-style deflation …….. and the last article is Doug Short’s latest data on over-50 employment.

• Europe already has one foot in ‘Japanese’ deflation grave (Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph)

• Recalibrating the poverty line (John E. Schwarz, Los Angeles Times) The government’s figure doesn’t reflect the real number of poor people. The real poverty line might be as much as 50% higher than the official mark.

• The Scholars Who Shill for Wall Street (Lee Fang, The Nation)

“Academics get paid by financial firms to testify against Dodd-Frank regulations. What’s wrong with this picture?“

• The The Highly Margined Bulls (Bill Hardison, Advisor Perspectives dshort.com) More margin debt now than at the 2007 peak.

• The Misreading of China’s Growth Data (Leland R. Miller and Craig Charney, The Wall Street Journal)

“Our survey of China’s economy, touching over 2,000 firms in all industries and regions, finds that rather than recovering strongly in the third quarter, China muddled through yet another mild growth slowdown.”

• Morningstar Names Best 529 College-Savings Plans for 2013 (Laura Pavlenko Lutton, Morningstar Advisor)

• Silly Little Bitches (Josh Brown, The Reformed Broker) How many are smart and how many euphoric?

• Rand Paul: I’ll Block Yellen Unless My Bill Gets a Vote (Eric Schaal, Wall St. Cheat Sheet) Paul is looking for more Fed transparency. What that means is more Congressional control, which is a strange idea for a libertarian. Perhaps Rand Paul has a euthanasia wet dream?

• Lean, Clean and In-Between (Jeremy Stein, Federal Reserve Board) Hat tip to Credit Writedowns. Should central banks try to lean against asset bubbles as they form?

• Amazing Demographic Trends in the 50-and-Older Work Force: Monthly Update (Doug Short, Advisor Perspectives dshort.com)