11-24-2015, 02:50 AM
China, because of its relatively inflexible FX regime, imported US monetary policy perhaps more absolutely than others. As a result, its debt binge went further than most other countries. McKinsey estimated that Chinese debt has quadrupled since 2007 and its debt to GDP ratio has risen above that of the US. The question is, given the semi USD/RMB peg and China's increasing open capital account (which come at the expense of China's monetary independence), whether China can live with higher US interest rates and a higher US dollar. We are skeptical. This why we think the USD/RMB peg, a marriage of convenience that has been the anchor for the global growth model for the better part of the last 15 years, is headed for a divorce, and we think the RMB devaluation on 11 August was a first small step in this direction.
BAML on 2016 Chinese yuan devaluation - Business Insider
In their recruiting, ISIS targets the local youth, according to members of R.B.S.S. With schools closed down, kids play aimlessly in the street. ISIS members befriend them, give them gifts, sometimes candy, sometimes a mobile phone. They ask the kids to join ISIS, one R.B.S.S. member said, “But they say, ‘Don’t tell your parents.’ I know about one child who went missing for months. His parents looked and looked. Thirteen years old, a boy. Finally, the father said to an ISIS leader, ‘Where is my son, I’ll give you money.’ Turns out the child was in a training camp for ISIS. They kidnap these children. They are sent to a mosque for education, so they are brainwashed with an extremist form of Islam. After this, they are sent to army camp to teach them how to fight, how to make and carry bombs. At their graduation, they have orders to execute someone––sometimes a beheading, sometimes they just cut off the head of a sheep.”
Telling the Truth About ISIS and Raqqa - The New Yorker
Derived from a plant called Synsepalum dulcificum, it is unlike any artificial sugar I'd tried before - because it works not by making foods sweeter, but by making them taste sweeter. The so-called miracle berries contain a molecule called miraculin which binds to receptors on your tongue, changing their shape. This makes sour foods taste sweeter. One advantage of temporarily changing your taste buds, rather than the food itself, could be the effect this has on your gut bacteria.
In search of the perfect sweetener - BBC News
Reports this week suggest that a pilot scheme to provide boilers, double-glazing and insulation to patients in Sunderland has improved health for people with medical conditions exacerbated by cold, damp conditions. Although the idea of a “boiler on prescription” may seem strange, the boundaries between health and welfare have never been clear. While some people have tried to limit the role of doctors in policymaking and reform, others have fought (in some cases, literally) for a broader understanding of what it means to help people live healthy lives.
Liu was the winning bidder for Amedeo Modigliani's "Reclining Nude" at a Christie's auction earlier this month— offering $170.4 million — and when the sale closes he will be putting it on his American Express card.
How to fly free forever: Put $170 million on your AmEx - Business Insider