Whole thread is excellent

Right now the United States' extraordinary privilege isn't an especially low borrowing rate. Treasuries yield more than European govvies or JGBs. The "privilege" is really that the U.S. can borrow from abroad without having to hold a portfolio of low yieldings bonds as reserves

Millennials’ Health Deteriorating, Projected Mortality Rates Higher Than GenX; “Deaths of Despair” a Major Culprit dlvr.it/RJG3t2

Fresh allegations of a ‘Spotify blacklist’ are surfacing, with artists excluded from editorial playlists if their music debuts elsewhere. is.gd/4jzLpi

Money doesn't buy you happiness, but money can buy you time. And if you spend your time wisely, that time can buy you happiness. So when we think about wealth distributions & inequality, we should also consider redistribution of time. h/t Joel Monegro monegro.org/notebook/time-…

Strong arguments for why a space elevator might be impossible. Tear-tinged thanks Mayerly Chapiro

Big News (in case you missed it): EIB, largest multilateral lender in the world, will phase out lending to fossil fuel projects by 2021. First time ever natural gas is included. ft.com/content/cc78d8…

#Huawei's vision for the future of #African cities: a vision that revolves around surveillance, artificial intelligence and 5G communication networks, creating a world where every movement is tracked, recorded & searchable. Simon Allison Mail & Guardian mg.co.za/article/2019-1…

Coal is back in China’s 14th Five Year Plan 2021-25, as Premier Li Keqiang is emphasizing “energy security” & deemphasizing decarbonization. As Albert Pinto suggests, it is hard not to think of this as spillover from confrontation with the US. chinadialogue.net/article/show/s…

A compelling case against the “manufacturing is bottoming” and “growth is stabilizing” narratives with a few in your face charts. Very good work as always gentlemen.... Andreas Steno Larsen Martin Enlund ⚡️🦆🚁

#AAII survey this week shows bears > 50% which has been incredibly rare in the last ten years. But look how often it happened in 2008. This could signal a pullback within an uptrend, but I'm concerned that it's more indicating a 2008-like environment. $SPX $SPY

Whatever caused crash, this is not a healthy market. Everyone's dancing by the exit door, waiting to jump out at first sign of trouble

Australia toughens immigration policy days after Treasury rep't judges the country needs immigration to remain solvent http://bit.ly/asCsOA

It may be an ominous sign that a search of Australian Twitter profiles turns up about 150 self-described "property investors"

"In 2009, more than 60% of the world's truck and bus production took place in India and China" http://bit.ly/9d3jlw

This Richard Koo interview on balance-sheet recessions is required reading (via zerohedge) http://bit.ly/cBMjn9

Koo: Popping of the US asset bubble in 1929 destroyed wealth equiv. to ~1yr of 1929 GDP. Japanese bubble = 3yrs 1989 GDP.