What We Read Today 27 May 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.

• Barclays Manipulated Gold as Soon as It Stopped Manipulating Libor (Matt Levine, Bloomberg) Hat tip to Roger Erickson. The UK Financial Conduct Board has sanctioned Barclays for manipulating the gold market just one day after the same bank was fined £290 million (US$450 million) for their role in the Libor manipulation. You couldn’t make up a story like this and have any credibility. So this really is an incredible event.

• With London ‘fix’ under fire, China seeks bigger sway in gold trade (A. Ananthalakshmi, Reuters) The country with the largest gold imports plans to start a global gold exchange in Shanghai. The PBoC (People’s Bank of China), the country’s central bank, approved the formation of the exchange last week. China wants more say in the benchmark pricing of gold and could challenge New York and London for leadership in trading and pricing.

• Vietnam accuses China of sinking fishing boat (Demitri Sevastopulo, Financial Times) Vietnam has accused China of sinking one of its fishing boats in disputed waters near a Chinese oil rig that is at the center of a dangerous maritime stand-off between the two Asian neighbors.

• Hanoi says Chinese boat sinks Vietnamese fishing vessel in disputed waters (Nguyen Phuong Linh, Reuters) The head of Vietnam’s coast guard says that the fishing vessel from Hanoi was “deliberately encircled” by 40 Chinese fishing vessels before it was rammed by a “Chinese ship“. The incident took place 17 nautical miles from the oil rig according to the Vietnamese coast guard.

• How Long Can the “Modi Bump” in Indian Markets Last? (Zachary Fillingham, Geopolitical Monitor) If Modi does deliver on his promises for economic development, the author says progress will be slow – the stock market may have gotten ahead of itself. He reports that Deutsche Bank downgraded India’s from “neutral” to “neutral – underweight”, “warning of possible economic pain in the short term and the pressing need for economic reform.”

• The Wall Street Pension Scam (Dean Baker, Truth-Out.org) Dean baker has contributed to GEI. Part of the shortfall in public pension funds can be attributed to above average management fees to advisors, many of which obtain their position through political patronage.

• Shanghai Warns Kids, Elderly to Stay Indoors on Heavy Pollution (Gregory Turk, Bloomberg) The Chinese government declared a “war on smog” in March but the “troops” are not yet on the battlefield.

Today there are 12 articles discussed ‘behind the wall’.

Please support all that we do at Global Economic Intersection with a subscription to our premium content ‘behind the wall’.

You get a full year for only $25.