Econintersect: Below we are reposting what we had ‘behind the wall’ 01 February in our premium content section of the daily feature “What We Read Today”. Every week Econintersect posts more than 150 articles which are available at no charge. In order to continue this high level of service we must find additional sources of revenue to support the level of staffing necessary. Every week there will be an additional 70-80 articles published elsewhere that we will list, abstract and summarize in varying extent ‘behind the wall’.

Click Read more >> to see ‘behind the wall’.

We are asking our readers and supporters to pay just $25 a year (that’s just 6.84 cents a day) to support the Global Economic Intersection site and help us continue to improve the quality of coverage we bring you 24 x 7 x 52 every year. Please sign up now:

And now, as promised, this is what you missed two weeks ago:

What We Read Today 01 February 2014

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 accepted.

Today we focus on U.S. and global employment and wage issues, plus credit and the economy in China plus a deflation warning.

• Everyone likes the idea of equal opportunity. This economist thinks it’s a fantasy. (Dylan Matthews, The Washington Post) Opportunity is not equal so to avoid extreme outcomes of distribution there must be some mechanism beyond an assumption that the “free” market will produce satisfactory income distributions.

• Ten Ways to Get Serious about Rising Inequality (John Cassidy, The New Yorker) This list is a liberal’s wet dream but it shouldn’t be dismissed without discussion.

• A Law Unto Themselves (Amar Bhide, City Journal, 30 January 2014) Amar Bhide has contributed to Global Economic Intersection. A powerful argument against the existence of control without accountability. Unaccountable control in public life and private has become an ever increasing problem.

• Public Exchanges Competitive With Employer-Sponsored Plans (Michael Giardina, HIX Health Insurance Exchange)

Premiums for health plans on new state exchanges under the Affordable Care Act are comparable to – and in some cases lower than – those being offered by employers with similar levels of coverage, according to a study released Thursday by Price Waterhouse Cooper’s Health Research Institute.

Read the comments which disagree with the author. See the actual report (free registration required).

• Economic Take-Off In 2014 Due To Lower Fiscal Drag? (James A. Kostohryz, JK Market Insights, Seeking Alpha) Author says fiscal drag arguments are fraught with possible errors of assumption, but, nonetheless, the governemnt sector will add to GDP in 2014 and both the economy and stocks should have a strong year.

• The TSA Is a Fraud? We’re Shocked, SHOCKED! (William Anderson, Mises Economics Blog) Perhaps it is an economic stimulus program?

• China’s sub-prime moment (House and Holes, Macro Business) The riskier tranches are collapsing (sse graph) but so far government is forcing banks to stand behind their products. But the author says China cannot continue to do this and also progress with rebalancing. See also Bloomberg News story.

• Biggest Money Fund Shuns Companies on Default Risk: China Credit (Helen Sun, Bloomberg)

• Former IMF Chief Economist, Now India’s Central Bank Governor Rajan Takes Shot at Bernanke’s Destabilizing Policies (Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism)

• Top 10 Most Competitive Housing Markets in America (Eric McWhinnie, Wall St. Cheat Sheet) The stories of the top ten markets is interesting but the real news is data showing a cooling housing market:

• When Good Models Go Bad (Jeff Miller, A Dash if Insight) Jeff Miller’s weekly investing articles appear at GEI Investing, usually in the early am Sundays.

• European Stocks Decline, Posting Worst January Since 2010 (Namitha Jagadeesh, Bloomberg)

• CHART OF THE DAY: A Big Question Mark For Investors In US Stocks (Matthew Boesler, Business Insider)