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AIB has the ‘worst loan book’ ever seen in Europe – Irish, Business – Independent.ie
China Blames U.S. for Strained Relations – NYTimes.com
FT.com – Gideon Rachman – Japan edges from America towards China
Why do journalists expect to have credibility? – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com
EconomPic: Is the Consumer Relevering?
Vitamin D lifts mood [...]

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When former Morgan Stanley chief Asian economist Andy Xie comments on the United States, he focuses on a bailout nation keen on perpetuating a bubble economy predicated on malinvestment and overconsumption.  In this he sees parallels with Japan and its long malaise.
Japan has experienced two decades of economic stagnation since the collapse of the infamous [...]

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Morgan Stanley – Global Economic Forum – Debating Debtflation
FT.com – Pandit blames Citi’s woes on short selling
Marshall Auerback: A tale of two recoveries – Germany and Malaysia, Part II
Stuck in neutral – what Japan’s rebalancing can teach us – Michael Pettis
U.S. lawmakers launch push to repeal NAFTA | Reuters
Economist’s View: [...]

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This is a post by Edward Hugh, who also blogs at Global Economy Matters.
Global manufacturing activity continued to expand in February, albeit at a slightly weaker pace than in January. At 55.2, down slightly from 56.1 in January, the JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI posted its second highest reading in almost four years. The average reading [...]

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Edward wrote a piece about Japan’s government net asset value falling below zero. He thought it would make sense if I gave you an alternative view using Richard Koo’s latest thinking about the Japanese experience, especially given the parallels to the U.S. regarding balance sheet recessions.
Before I get to Koo, I should add that, for [...]

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Bloomberg reports:
The Japanese government’s net assets in 2009 may have fallen below zero for the first time, the Nikkei newspaper reported, citing an unidentified government official. The result, which includes the central and regional governments, may add to pressure for the government to reduce bond sales, the paper said. Net assets of the central government [...]

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I referenced Matt Taibbi’s latest work at Rolling Stone “Wall Street’s Bailout Hustle” recently when talking about a movie on Ponzi schemes and fraud that aired on 60 Minutes. I liked the piece and recommend you read it – fully aware of the awaiting hyperbole Taibbi uses to hype his case.
The interesting bit is Taibbi [...]

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As I am still away for the week, you have seen a lot of posts from others. I do still have a lot of links though, and may do two (or three) for today. Here is the first batch.  Enjoy!
Edward
Irony: Greek Banks Aren’t the Most Exposed – International Trader – Europe – Jonathan Buck – [...]

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Claus Vistesen here with a first post on Credit Writedowns.
GDP releases are, by their very nature, lagging indicators and thus do not tell us a whole lot about the current momentum in an economy. Moreover, the immediate focus of attention in the Eurozone remains, and rightly so, the situation in Greece (and Spain), and what [...]

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The following is a post by Marc Chandler, head of Brown Brother Harriman’s Currency Strategy Team. For more of BBH’s currency views, visit the website here.
The great Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran once wrote that sometimes the mountain is clearer from the plane than the summit.  This insight may be applied to the foreign exchange [...]