Smart Links 05 July 2011

Articles on risks to internet freedom, Russia’s evolving leadership, America’s investment gap, the debt crisis reveals that political systems are broken in the US and Europe, rare earth mineral find, the environment and autism, booming Brazil, Bombardier shuts down in Derby, Thailand’s Yingluck Shinawatra, a QEII report card, and Toronto’s subway politics.

Fears about internet freedom. Thanks to David of London.

National Post – Internet Freedom is Under Threat Worldwide [13]
Government censorship and surveillance of Internet users was once the purview of oppressive regimes, like China and Iran, but now Western countries are [external] trying to tame the digital frontier.

How Russia is governing itself. Not like us. Thanks to David of Victoria.

Stratfor – Russia’s Evolving Leadership [14]
Russia has entered election season, with parliamentary elections in December and presidential elections in March 2012.

America’s investment gap.

Wall Street Journal -- America's Troubling Investment Gap [15]
In June, President Obama celebrated a rare sliver of good economic news: Foreign investment was up 49% last year over 2009.

Is the real problem that the political systems in the United States and Europe are dysfunctional?

Financial Times – America and Europe Sinking Together [16]
In Washington they are arguing about a debt ceiling; in Brussels they are staring into a debt abyss.

Quote worth quoting.

“Yet the similarities between the two regions’ dilemmas are now more striking than the differences – mounting debt, a weak economy, an increasingly expensive and unreformable welfare state, fear for the future and political gridlock are the common points.”

Rare earth minerals find off of Hawaii. Thanks to Jeremy of Tokyo.

Guardian – Japan Discovers ‘Rare Earth’ Minerals Used for iPads [17]
Japanese scientists have discovered huge deposits of "rare earth" minerals, crucial for making electronics products such as smartphones, tablets such as the iPad and flat-screen TVs, on the floor of the Pacific Ocean around Hawaii – and they say they are easy to extract.

Links between the environment and autism.

New York Times – New Study Implicates Environmental Factors in Autism [18]
A new study of twins suggests that environmental factors, including conditions in the womb, may be at least as important as genes in causing autism.

Booming Brazil

New York Times – Brazil’s Giddy Convergence [19]
Tom Jobim is famous for having written “Girl from Ipanema,” the sensuous, playful anthem of a sensuous, playful land. He’s almost equally famous for having said, “Brazil is not for amateurs.”

The end of train making in historic Derby. Thanks to Nevin of Victoria.

Globe and Mail -- Job losses loom at Bombardier’s U.K. rail centre [20]
Bombardier Inc. plans to gut its historic British train-building site, famous for almost two centuries of manufacturing and dominance of the industry.

A useful review of where the markets are headed, mostly down. Thanks to David of Victoria.

Pdf below -- Murenbeeld - Economic Monitor June 28 2011

Thailand’s newest leader. Thanks to Ken of Tokyo/Hong Kong.

Bangkok Post – The Making of a Prime Minister [21]
Swivel left, wave. Smile. Index finger held high. Turn right, smile. Shoulders steady. Index finger held high.

Related.

New York Times -- Thais Back Ousted Prime Minister’s Party in Landslide [22]
The party of the fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra won an overwhelming victory in a parliamentary election on Sunday that could turn Thai politics on its head and roll back the results of a coup that ousted Mr. Thaksin almost five years ago.

A very useful report card on QEII whose intention was to avoid Japan’s liquidity trap and deflation. Textbook.

Econbrowser – The Effectiveness of Quantitative Easing [23]
This week I attended a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on quantitative easing.

A warning about the TTC.

Globe and Mail -- TTC makes ‘dumbest decision ever,’ former head warns [24]
Veteran transit manager David Gunn had a blunt message for the Toronto Transit Commission when he came at its invitation to provide 2012 budget advice.