What I'm reading these days - 20-24 October

Random articles I've found interesting over the last week or so, posted in each section from the oldest to the newest. Mostly for my own reminder, but if you feel like commenting, I'm always up for an interesting discussion in the comments! I've added a star system to signify the articles I found more interesting than the average interesting needed to get on the page and/or articles I very much agree with.

On the Euro Crisis:
☆☆ Were Hollande and Merkel at the same summit?
☆☆☆ EU Summit: The kiss of life, or of death?
☆☆ Taking A Man At His Word
Northern European Investors Steer Clear of Needy South
Financial transaction tax for 10 EU states
The S&P downgrade ratio in Europe – 4:1
(Seemingly) Perpetually Miserable Indices

Germany
Buba still unimpressed with ECB
Germany wants Greece to hand over more budget control ( just organize a Generalgouvernement already!)

Greece
The return of the Greek buyback (boondoggle)
Greece fact of the day (Scroll down to "So Much For Subtlety")

Portugal
IMF calls Lisbon’s austerity ‘imperative’

Slovenia
☆☆ Slovenia puts the ‘EM’ in EMU

Spain
☆☆ Foreign buyers and the OMT (Italy as well)


On the US Economy:
Black Monday, An Unforgettable Single Day
JPMorgan: If the payroll tax cut falls, so does growth
Did the financial blogosphere go away?


World Economy and Economics in general:
☆☆☆☆ Shrink Inequality to Grow the Economy?
☆☆☆ Is the Financial Sector Worth What We Pay It?
The East grows only because the West consumes. Bitch please.
Can Agricultural Productivity Keep Growing?
What would happen if investments in people succeeded?
When the Hedge Fund Industry Evolves…in a Bad Way
Gauging the multiplier: Lessons from history (Could someone notify the various governments in Europe, please?)
Jerome Kerviel loses appeal, heads to prison (Hey, 4,9 billion dollars losses by one man!)

HFT 
The geopolitics of computer trading

China
China flash PMIs are up, but there’s a catch


Politics:
Is Islam Misogynistic? (YOU DON'T SAY!)

EU
☆☆☆ You thought the whole 'EUSSR' thing was over the top? (Seriously, who hired the designer? And who the heck is the idiot pushing this in a moment when nationalist feelings are running high? Not that I mind, but who in the EU wants to give even more ammos to Golden Dawn, the British Defence League, Flemish nationalist and the like?)
Welcome to Berlin, Europe’s new capital

USA
Mitt Romney Speech At The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner (FUN!)
2008 Called. It Wants to Know What Happened to Barack Obama.
Guilford Co. voters say ballot cast for Romney came up Obama on machine (The fact that machines vote automatically for Obama is not really surprising as the fact people can vote two weeks to the official election date for no real reason)

UK
Britain has left the European Union in all but name (I'm skeptical they will really opt-out)
The Takedown of the EDL (Why I'm not surprised in the least?)

China
☆☆☆☆ China’s increasing military spending unnerves neighbors (Quote to look for: "We have a lot of land occupied by other countries". That'd be Taiwan, Japan , India, Buthan, South Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei... there is practically no neighbor without some land China is disputing about)


Miscellania:
☆☆☆☆ Brains plus Brawn
2012 Japan Juggling Festival Championship
The Rise of Childless Americans (and that sadly applies even more to most European countries, Italy in particular, altho I suspect here it is more for economical reasons)
Italian scientists sent to prison for false predictions (I do not usually issue public apologizes for my country, as I stick to the "right or wrong, my country" principle, but in this case I do apologize to the World Scientific Community for our judges)
Preparing for take-off (Planes indeed waste a lot on taxing, included  huge amount of MY time)
Apple, Google, and Amazon are so profitable because they know what to lose money on
Cosmo Wenman’s Mind-Blowing Sculpture Made On A MakerBot (I WANT this!)