What We Read Today 25 July 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.

• Russia Retail Sales Growth Approaches Zero (The Daily Slot, email, no url) The question asked is: How long can Putin retain his high approval ratings in Russia? The reason for the question is the graph after the Read more >> jump.

• ​‘No joke’: Germany mulls using typewriters to combat US snooping (RT) Hat tip to Drey Lourens. Typewriter sales are surging in Germany. An increasing number of businesses are opting out of email and are reverting back to old technologies to avoid being spied on. The move has led to a surge in typewriter sales in Germany. In 2013 sales were up by 1/3 over 2012 and are expected to increase sharply again in 2014. See also Old technology in NSA age: Typewriter sales surge in Germany (RT)

• Anthony Rizzo comes through in big way for cancer patient (Jimmy Traina, Fox Sports) The Chicago Cubs have an illustrious 144 year history, the longest of any major league baseball team. They appeared in three World Series and won two over a three-year stretch 1906-1908, winning the latter two world championships. The team continued to be one of the best in baseball from 1909 though the late 1930s. They were very successful during the span from 1929-1938 with four National League titles but lost all four World Series. They last won a National League title in 1945, but lost the World Series to Detroit after receiving the “curse of the goat“. The curse has continued to this day as the Cubs suffer the distinction of having the longest sports championship drought of any major professional sports team in North America (105 years) and have not won the National League title since 1945 (68 years). For generations the Chicago Cubs have epitomized the saying “wait ’til next year”. You can read a short-book-length Cubs’ history at Wikipedia.

All of the above history is to introduce the fact that the Cubs are not “losers”. Read the Fox Sports story.

• IMF says US economic growth to be weakest since recession (Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor) The IMF has cranked down its growth estimate for the U.S. economy yet once again, this time to a meager 1.7%. That would make the economy the weakest since the end of The Great Recession five years ago. See also The End of Growth and Its Implications (Roger Arnold, Real Clear Markets) Hat tip to Ian Campbell.

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