MoneyWeek staff picks - May 2012
MoneyWeek staff pick some of the best articles from around the web.
31 May
For Spanish workers, Europe's not working
Eurozone labour mobility is still low, even when times are tough - Reuters
The wrong way to use an index tracker
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Investors can lose sight of what an ETF is for - Psy-Fi Blog
Gold set for its worst month in 11 years
Gold slumps as investors flee to the safety of the US - Bloomberg
Ireland's solution to the euro problem
Shopkeepers aim to boost the economy by bringing back the punt - The Guardian
A Dow Theory sell signal?
Everyone may have missed a clear signal to sell - WSJ Market Watch
China may already be in a recession
China's economy is grinding to a halt. It's time to start worrying - The Atlantic
30 May
Scourge of Greek tax evaders pays no tax
'Pay your taxes, Greece', scolds IMF chief, while paying none herself - The Guardian
Why China won't rule
It is by no means inevitable the China will be the next superpower - Project Syndicate
Spain: officially Europe's biggest crisis
The only question is whether Spain will go bankrupt now or later - The Atlantic
29 May
The hunch, the pounce and the kill
How Boaz Weinstein and hedge funds outsmarted JP Morgan - NY Times
In thrall of the empire of the sons
Business in China is inextricably bound up with the 'princelings' - Sydney Morning Herald
How inflation deflated the stick-up
Inflation affects everyone - even bank robbers - The Billfold
Why we lie
Everyone cheats, even if only a little bit - Wall Street Journal
Can US federal fleet drive alternative fuels?
Alternative fuels could be about to take off - Reuters
Europe is ignoring 1997
Obsession with austerity could lead to disaster - Bloomberg
28 May
US stocks and politics
How the betting markets view the US election - The Big Picture
Swiss prepare capital controls
Switzerland readies its defences for a breakup of the euro - Wall Street Journal
Happy people make bad traders
Being happy might make you friends, but it won't make you money - The Psy-Fi Blog
Yearning for a non-existent past
The wishful thinking of economist Paul Krugman - Daily Capitalist
The hunt for illiquidity
Do illiquid assets really have higher returns? - Reuters
Germany to the euro: drop dead
Why Germany needs inflation and higher wage rates - The Atlantic
25 May
Algorithmic arms race
Hedge funds turning to ever more complicated trading algorithms - Reuters
Derivatives 'worth 20 times' world economy
Derivative instruments valued at a quadrillion dollars - Mindful of Money
Europe's biggest fear
Europe can't handle a bank run - Economist
24 May
Prepare for the end of the euro
Europe's leaders told to prepare contingency plans in case Greece leaves the eurozone - Reuters
Bail-ins: Damned if we do, damned if we don't
Why nations should stop bailing out banks - Bond Vigilantes
23 May
Become a safer investor - get married
The best fund managers are married or female - The Psy-Fi Blog
Why 2% inflation targeting is the new gold standard
We need to devalue currencies relative to goods - Slate
JPMorgan's addiction to gambling on derivatives
What's wrong with investment banking - Ritholz
Eurozone heading for breakup
Why the eurozone's collapse is inevitable - Bond Vigilantes
Hope for the poor
How pessimism keeps people trapped in poverty - Economist
22 May
Germany isolated as Latins call the shots
Spain, France and Italy plan to force concessions from Germany - Telegraph
Economics explains why America's drug policy doesn't work - Vox
Rents are strangling Silicon Valley
High rents are stopping the Bay Area from capitalising on the tech boom - Economist
Bread, circuses and leather balls
How US taxpayers are being gouged to finance sports stadiums - The Economist
€40 for Paella?
Spain's economy is collapsing. So why is going on holiday there still so expensive? - Slate
Banking burnouts blow away Wall Street myths
Read this first if you want to be an investment banker - Bloomberg
21 May
How the Facebook IPO compares
Graphic illustrating the various tech public offerings since 1984 - NY Times
Is Germany destined to save the euro?
Five steps Germany must take to save the single currency - The Telegraph
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
How banks fleece their IPO customers - Dan Ariely
18 May
Watch America's decline is a mirage
Those moaning about the decline of the USA are talking nonsense - Bloomberg
The price of 1bn people watching each other
How much is Facebook actually worth? - The Atlantic
17 May
Watch the deposit flight, not the eurocrats
Bank deposits, not votes, will determine future of Greece - BBC
The 'true calamity' is to delay leaving the euro
Greece should leave the euro as soon as possible - Guardian
50 years of government spending
What the US has spent money on over the past half-century - NPR
Can we declare the end of peak oil?
It's time to worry about something important instead - Telegraph
China real estate unravels
A look at the bursting of China's property bubble - EconoMonitor
Why central bankers are like Chuck Norris
Central bankers don't pull levers, they make threats - Worthwhile Canadian Initiative
16 May
As the big economies falter, micro-currencies rise - The Atlantic
Parallels between the euro and the 1930s gold standard - Project Syndicate
Greasing the wheel
Oil's role in the global crisis - Vox
What the 'club sandwich index' reveals about livings costs - The Economist
Oil speculators find themselves in a tricky position - Reuters
The sad state of America's housing market - Daily Capitalist
15 May
The true cost of taxing alcohol, tobacco and other 'vices' - Adam Smith Institute
Time for Blankfein to leave Goldman?
Lloyd Blankfein's time as Goldman Sachs chief exec may be up - Vanity Fair
What Eduardo Saverin owes America
America made the ungrateful billionaire what he is today - Pando Daily
A whale in the water of negative yields
Bill Gross applies the plankton theory to bond markets - FT
Spanish restructuring is 'unthinkable'
Restructuring Spain's debt could be disastrous for the eurozone - Sober Look
The key to business success: copy others well - Economist
14 May
The bet that blew up for JP Morgan
How JP Morgan lost $2bn in six weeks - Dealbook
US 'in recession' by end of next month
Analyst Lakshman Achuthan predicts a US recession - Credit Writedowns
What happens when the next TBTF bank goes under?
What is supposed to happen when a firm collapses - Time
Reframe the 'growth vs austerity' debate
The real source of Europe's fiscal problems - The Fiscal Times
11 May
Bring back the bank run!
What's been missing from US banking recently is the bank run - Mises.org
A derivatives trader speaks out - The Guardian
The truth about the euro's creation
Proof that the single currency was about politics, not economics - Credit Writedowns
Why Warren Buffett won't buy gold
Gold bulls are wrong, says the Sage of Omaha - Forbes
10 May
The growth of the shadow economy
As the 'official' economy struggles, the black economy grows - FT Alphaville
Will shareholders in the US follow their British counterparts over pay? - Reuters
Kidnapped by pirates? Here's how economics can save you - The Atlantic
9 May
Global property: still in a bubble?
The biggest bubble in recent history isn't over yet - Ritholtz
The securitisation of commodities could end in tears - FT Alphaville
Phillip Coggan and David Graeber on the history of money and debt - London Review of Books
'Austrian economics' pop quiz - Mises.org
France may be losing its head - Europe may soon follow
Why a shift to the left in Europe is good for gold - Prudent Bear
Invest in stocks? Forget about it!
Searching for the elusive lasting market bottom - Ritholtz.com
8 May
France faces 40% house price slump
Good news for would-be chateau-owners - Daily Telegraph
Ten tips on how to write great financial blogs - James Altucher
US unemployment may be falling, but so is the labour force - Reuters
Benzene trumps traditional indicators
The chemical that tells you that China's heading for a hard landing - Financial Times
Random states 'more cohesive' than eurozone
Random countries more similar to each other than the 12 in the eurozone are - The Atlantic
Preoccupying: Paul Mason
Newsnight's economics editor on the financial crisis - Occupied Times
4 May
Peter Schiff gives a class on the Gold Standard - Peter Schiff blog
Support country-by-country tax reporting
Full accounts for every country a multinational trades in - Tax Research UK
Were the 1970s really that bad?
The 1970s were probably not as bad as you think - Flip Chart Fairy Tales
The violent origins of JP Morgan
How a dodgy water deal spawned America's biggest bank - Bloomberg
The purpose of spectacular wealth
Spectacularly wealthy guy on how the rich benefit the little people - New York Times
The pseudoscience of economics
Economics: a dreamworld constructed by emotionally stunted individuals - Zero Hedge
3 May
Why I won't be voting
Don't vote, it'll just encourage the bastards - Adam Smith Institute blog
What nuclear disasters can teach investors - Psyfitec blog
Gold standard for all, from nuts to Paul Krugman
The gold standard was better than its detractors like to admit - Bloomberg
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