Links for 11/16

[admin]

Dutch children are regularly found to be the happiest in the world, according to those who measure these things. And as an expat raising children in the Netherlands it's easy to see why. The Dutch approach to parenting combines old-school family values with a very modern respect for children's autonomy and opinions. It not only produces very happy children, but children who grow up confident, resilient and sure of their place in the world. So what are the secrets to raising such happy kids?

Why Dutch Children Are the Happiest in the World (And What We Can Learn From It) | Mihal Greener

Scams on the website take many forms, according to Action Fraud, the national fraud and internet crime reporting centre. These range from fake listings to “phishing” emails attempting to gain access to users’ personal details. However, the most common involve fraudsters advertising properties for rent on Airbnb without the owner’s knowledge, then convincing site users to transfer money straight into their bank accounts.

Holidaymakers accuse Airbnb of not protecting them from scams | Technology | The Guardian

As leaders gathered in Turkey on Sunday for a Group-of-20 summit, they pledged to redouble efforts to sap the lifeblood of the terrorists by targeting their finances and recruitment. They will consider deeper intelligence sharing, tighter border controls and the creation of Syrian safe havens. Some also speak of a much more aggressive military option. Experts say it would require 150,000 U.S. troops, could last decades and cost trillions. It is considered highly unlikely at this stage because it would need to be led by Sunni nations that have shown no appetite for the fight and would pose severe challenges regarding Russia and Syria. Nor would such an invasion address the underlying forces that have shaped Islamic State.

Smashing Islamic State After Paris Attacks Poses Huge Challenges - Bloomberg Business

"At the heart of it is the failed and broken state system in the Arab world that has given IS space in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya," said Bruce Riedel, a CIA veteran at the Brookings Institution. "That problem is not fixable overnight or even in the next few years."

Smashing Islamic State After Paris Attacks Poses Huge Challenges - Bloomberg Business

In order to analyze jobs by their impact on workers' health, we took O*NET measures of six health risks in each of the 974 occupations in the database: exposure to contaminants; exposure to disease and infection; exposure to hazardous conditions; exposure to radiation; risk of minor burns, cuts, bites, and stings; and time spent sitting, since studies show that frequent inactivity shortens your lifespan. O*NET scores these factors on a scale from 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating an increased health risk. Read on to find out which jobs have the most potential to damage your health.

The most unhealthy jobs in America - Business Insider

[admin]

While in Hamburg they received an anonymous telegram stating: "Do not go to Tokyo. Your life is in danger".[8] The threat was taken seriously in light of the controversy surrounding the tour among Japan's religious and conservative groups, with particular opposition to the Beatles' planned performances at the sacred Nippon Budokan arena.[8] As an added precaution, 35,000 police were mobilised and tasked with protecting the group, who were transported from hotels to concert venues in armoured vehicles.[9] The polite and restrained Japanese audiences shocked the band, because the absence of screaming fans allowed them to hear how poor their live performances had become. By the time that they arrived in the Philippines, where they were threatened and manhandled by its citizens for not visiting the First Lady Imelda Marcos

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Imagine selling a $14 million New York City apartment entirely through Twitter or SnapChat.  Emma Hao, an agent for luxury-home broker Douglas Elliman has done it.

WeChat is helping Chinese buy US homes - Business Insider

Large companies such as Amazon and Intel, as well as many smaller startups, are betting heavily on the idea that drones will become widespread for everything from agriculture to package delivery. A series of flight tests scheduled to start Monday in Butner, North Carolina, will help determine whether and how the Federal Aviation Administration will let that dream come true in U.S. airspace.

Tests Begin of Technology the FAA Thinks Could Keep Drones Safe Beyond the View of Their Operators | MIT Technology Review

Korean researchers have used blue LED lights to investigate how photoactive chemicals offer a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

Smart2.0 - Blue LEDs as Alzheimer's treatment?

Between 1947 and 1974, G.D.P. rose by about four per cent a year, on average, and many American households enjoyed a surge in living standards. In the nineteen-eighties and nineties, growth dropped a bit, but still averaged more than three per cent. Since 2001, however, the rate of expansion has fallen below two per cent—less than half the postwar rate—and many economists believe that it will stay there, or fall even further. I

Why Not Just Print More Money? - The New Yorker

[admin]

The attacks in Paris could mean a backlash against globalization and could signal that more terrorist strikes against the West are ahead, according to Citi analysts. More nations may join in a broader fight against Islamic State, says a research note from Citi’s Tina Fordham, Guillaume Menuet, Tiia Lehto and Willem Buiter. Below are a few key points from the note.

Citi sees Paris attacks as ‘turning point,’ bringing backlash against globalization - MarketWatch

Gokul Laroia, Morgan Stanley's co-CEO for Asia Pacific, told CNBC there was "a real disparity between the new China companies and the old China companies in terms of growth and in terms of prospects."

Morgan Stanley APAC co-CEO says investment bank likes China healthcare, tech sectors

Investor fears are on the rise south of the Pyrenees as Catalonia, Spain’s richest region (pound for pound), descends into political chaos and Spain’s central government threatens to cut off funding to the region.

Catalonian independence is a nightmare - Business Insider

“The economy is, by virtually any measure, drastically improved from when President Obama took office nearly seven years ago,” writes Ben Casselman, chief economics writer at FiveThirtyEight. “And yet poll after poll reveals a national electorate that is deeply skeptical of that progress.”

Economy Has Improved but Voters Don't Believe It: 538's Casselman

If other gains from Abenomics have been modest, they're at least trending in the right direction. Unemployment is at an 18-year low, even as labor participation rates -- especially among women -- rise. While too many workers are still being shuffled into temporary jobs with limited prospects, the number of full-time positions created has started to tick upward. Wages are rising modestly. Property has picked up, even beyond the heart of Tokyo.

Recession Is No Reason for Japan to Panic - Bloomberg View

[admin]

Sixty years ago Asian dictators told their people in effect, “I am going to take away your freedom — but give you the best education, export-led economics and infrastructure that money can buy — and in a half-century you’ll build a middle class that will gradually take your freedom back.” In the Arab world, 60 years ago dictators told their people, in effect, “I am going to take away your freedom and give you the Arab-Israeli conflict, a shiny object to distract you from my corruption and predation.” That difference, 60 years later, has produced the Asian economic miracle and fueled the Arab civilizational meltdown/disorder in Yemen, Libya, Syria and Iraq.

Cabs, Camels or ISIS - The New York Times

As per Gabriel Zucman’s book, The Hidden Wealth of Nations, the world’s financial liabilities are worth about $7.6 trillion more than the world’s financial assets. Roughly $6.1 trillion of these extra liabilities take the form of equity and long-term debt, with the other $1.5 trillion held in low-yielding deposits and money-market funds.

Where’s my liability, dude? | FT Alphaville

South Korean imports and exports were also below consensus, down -16.6 percent and -15.9 percent, respectively year-on-year; this highlights both weak domestic demand, as well as poor demand from its biggest trade partner, China. The Bank of Korea highlighted China’s economic slowdown, the Federal Reserve’s potential interest-rate hike, and local household debt as key risks to its financial system.

Worrying Signs For North Dakota’s Oil Industry | OilPrice.com

Warren Buffett has seen shares of his Berkshire Hathaway fall more than 11 percent this year. Even worse, Berkshire shares have underperformed the S&P 500 by more than 10 percent.

Warren Buffett is having an unusually bad year

An attendee was kind enough to share notes on some of the big bets being made by hedge fund titans. Here's a rundown

Robin Hood Conference investment picks - Business Insider

[admin]

When I tell people I teach philosophy, to children their reaction is almost always: “Gosh, you mean in a private school?” When I tell them that I mostly work in Deptford, Brixton and Whitechapel with children receiving free school meals, they look surprised. Who can blame them? Philosophers stir their tea pondering how we know the sun will rise tomorrow, while the working classes worry whether there is enough money on the electric meter for today, right?

Philosophy saved me from poverty and drugs: that’s why I teach it to kids | Andy West | Comment is free | The Guardian

The world is on the cusp of a "post-antibiotic era", scientists have warned after finding bacteria resistant to drugs used when all other treatments have failed. They identified bacteria able to shrug off the drug of last resort - colistin - in patients and livestock in China. They said that resistance would spread around the world and raised the spectre of untreatable infections. It is likely resistance emerged after colistin was overused in farm animals.

Antibiotic resistance: World on cusp of 'post-antibiotic era' - BBC News

The amount of money in GLD has dropped to its lowest level since January 2009, according to FactSet data. That’s shown in the chart below. Back then, the U.S. was in recession and U.S. stocks were still two months away from finding a bottom.

How investors are abandoning gold, in one chart - MarketWatch

But an investor named Joe Campbell was not so lucky when he placed a $37,000 short position on KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. KBIO, -7.88%  late Wednesday, only to find out on Thursday that the shares had shot up about 800% after Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli gained control of a majority of KaloBios’ shares.

Why you should never short-sell stocks - MarketWatch

Many employers say today’s university graduates don’t quite measure up. In survey after survey, they rate young applicants as deficient in such key workplace skills as written and oral communication, critical thinking and analytical reasoning.

BBC - Capital - This is the real reason new graduates can’t get hired

[admin]

With most products, you’d expect a flood of new supply to quickly drive back down a price spike caused by a temporary shortage. Not so in the topsy-turvy world of hospital pharmaceuticals. Just look at prices for glycopyrrolate, an everyday drug used to dry up secretions prior to surgery. After one of only two makers of the drug temporarily closed its factory in 2012 to fix quality control problems, Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc raised prices on its injectable version more than 800 percent over the next year. Both manufacturers are now making the drug again, yet Hikma’s prices have only fallen slightly and remain more than eight times higher than they were in early 2013.

The Law of Pharma Pricing: What Goes Up Often Stays Up - Bloomberg Business

For his "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer spoke with Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce.com (CRM - Get Report) , which delivered a 2-cents-a-share earnings beat on better-than-expected revenue that rose 24% year over year. Benioff praised Salesforce as the fastest-growing enterprise software company ever, and said that this quarter his company saw revenue growth across the board, even in Europe and Asia. Among the notable deals this quarter were technical services giant Aecom  (ACM) and Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) , which is using Salesforce's customer service cloud to communicate with its customers.

Jim Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: You Can't Keep a Good Stock Down - TheStreet

It’s an idea Willy Wonka’s evil twin might have dreamed up: Chocolate that’s healthy, calorie-free, and no fun at all. Behold, the chocolate pill. Candy-makers are pumping up production of nutritional supplements with flavanols, a cocoa extract said to improve blood circulation.

Chocolate in a Pill: All of the Benefits, None of the Fun - Bloomberg Business

The European Central Bank is ready to act quickly to boost anemic inflation in the euro zone, its president said on Friday, offering the strongest hint yet that the bank will unveil fresh stimulus measures at its Dec. 3 meeting.

ECB willing to act fast to boost inflation, says Draghi | Reuters

Twelve months ago, he had just finished his first season in car racing and had just driven a grand prix car for the first time. At 17, he was being put forward as a reason to bring in a minimum age limit for drivers entering F1. There were question marks about him, and the morality and wisdom of having such a young driver with such limited experience. A year on from that, those questions marks are long gone, and Dutchman Verstappen is regarded as the revelation of the season - and his performances have put more focus on youth coming through.

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz both excellent in 2015 - McNish - BBC Sport

[admin]

Finland is sliding deeper into economic depression, a prime exhibit of currency failure and an even more unsettling saga for theoretical defenders of the euro than the crucifixion of Greece. A full six-and-a-half years into the current global expansion, Finland's GDP is 6pc below its previous peak. It is suffering a deeper and more protracted slump than the post-Soviet crash of the early 1990s, or the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Finland's depression is the final indictment of Europe's monetary union - Telegraph

The huge importance of antibiotics within healthcare globally cannot be overstated. A US study in 1999 calculated that the introduction of antibiotics in 1936 caused deaths in the US to fall by 220 per 100,000 within 15 years. All other medical technologies combined over the next 45 years reduced deaths by only 20 per 100,000 people. The euphoria over the healthcare benefits of antibiotics was encapsulated in 1960, when the US surgeon general announced that “infectious disease is conquered”.

I believed we would face an antibiotics apocalypse - until now | Richard James | Comment is free | The Guardian

The European Central Bank is prepared to deploy its full range of stimulus measures to fight low inflation, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Friday, suggesting that additional easy money policies are a strong possibility at the bank's next policy meeting in December.

Draghi: ECB will do what it must to lift inflation - MarketWatch

What explains the modern right’s propensity for panic? Part of it, no doubt, is the familiar point that many bullies are also cowards. But I think it’s also linked to the apocalyptic mind-set that has developed among Republicans during the Obama years. Think about it. From the day Mr. Obama took office, his political foes have warned about imminent catastrophe. Fiscal crisis! Hyperinflation! Economic collapse, brought on by the scourge of health insurance! And nobody on the right dares point out the failure of the promised disasters to materialize, or suggest a more nuanced approach.

The Farce Awakens - The New York Times

George Osborne will announce the most dramatic and far-reaching cuts to state spending Britain has ever seen as he sets out his plan to clear the deficit - and run a surplus. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, Britain’s most influential economic think tank, has calculated that Whitehall departments that have not been given special protection face average cuts of 27 per cent in their budgets, when the Chancellor unveils his Spending Review on Wednesday.

Spending Review: IFS warns of deepest cuts in history - Telegraph