- The Bank of Japan has announced an aggressive move to increase the money supply and target deflation. Or, as Jonathan Soble puts it, Haruhiko Kuroda has come as close to scattering money from the back of a Toyota as a central banker might dare.
- For the context to the Japan news, read Peter Tasker on the logic of Abenomics.
- The FT’s Borzou Daragahi looked in depth at Algeria – a regional powerhouse that has been reluctant to flex its muscle - despite the turmoil surrounding it.
- Apple may have apologised for its “perceived” arrogance and disregard for Chinese customers, but Jamil Anderlini says the Chinese state is still losing the broader propaganda war online.
- The fall of the local currency in Egypt is leading some Egyptians to consider alternative ways to protect the value of their savings, reports Reuters.
- The New Yorker’s John Cassidy profiles Janet Yellen – the woman tipped to become chair of the Federal Reserve when Ben Bernanke’s term ends at the end of January 2014.
- The UK’s welfare state has been under fire for some time, with the Conservative-led government arguing that the system is too big, too generous and doesn’t do enough to incentivise work. Those on the political left counter that the government is simply returning to its ideological roots by cutting back on support for the poorest. On Wednesday the Daily Mail’s front page took the national debate to a shrill new level, describing a man convicted of killing his six children as the “vile product of welfare UK”. One blogger contrasted the coverage with the way the Mail covered another tragedy, while Zoe Williams wrote about the danger of incendiary rhetoric. On Thursday the chancellor George Osborne appeared to side with the Mail.
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Smart Reads April 4, 2013
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