What We Read Today 28 April 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 included.

• Why China fears the Putin precedent (John Lee, Business Spectator) China appears to be just as confused as the U.S. and the EU regarding the Ukraine situation. But China has concerns because of the ploy used by Putin of using “self-determination” as a pretext for interfering with former Soviet states. China would have a problem if the same doctrine were applied to Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan where self-determination referenda would likely (certainly?) go against Beijing.

• China, US rally on climate change (House and Holes, Macro Business) China and the U.S. have started new talks on how to curb carbon emissions. Climate experts say this is a promising new turn of events. The author of this article expresses some skepticism about the political reality of anything happening. There are additional articles today on climate change ‘behind the wall’.
  

• The Chinese take Manhattan: replace Russians as top apartment buyers (Michelle Conlin and Maggie Lu Yueyang, Reuters) New York realtors report that Chinese are “the top consumer for real estate” in New York. The focus seems to be on Manhattan but will the Chinese sing the Lawrence Hart lyrics:
  

We’ll have Manhattan
the Bronx and Staten
Island too.

• East European oligarchs rush to snap up London property (Kate Allen and Vanessa Houlder, Financial Times) Russians and Ukrainians are trying to get asets out of harms way as sanctions start to bite. Perhaps the decline in New York is because of fear the U.S. could sieze property if the crisis worsens.

• New report calls U.S. a ‘rising star’ of global manufacturing (James B. Kelleher, Reuters) The U.S. is now ranked number two (behind China) in the world for manufacturing competitiveness. Cheap natural gas has been a major factor in the comeback. Reuters says that Mexico actually has manufacturing costs below China but does not make a top ranking because of crime and corruption. The top ten has Korea (3) and Japan (5) plus six European countries, headed by UK (4).

• Walmart to Sell Marijuana in Colorado, Washington (National Report) Hat tip to Russell Huntley. Your friendly family shopping center is going to pot.

• Starbucks CEO: We’re going after the $90 billion tea market (Jeff Morganteen, CNBC) Hat tip to Marvin Clark. Build traffic at 4 pm?
  

Today there are 13 articles discussed ‘behind the wall’. The first 4 are about climate change and energy issues. The final 3 concern China.

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