Fun rap describing the principles of our two favorite economists

It's intriguing to see that the Kremlin still holds an insane amount of power. After disagreements between the Russian President and the Moscow Mayor, Mayor Luzhkov refused to resign. President Medvedev did what any good Russian president would do and fired him. All of Russia's most powerful regional leaders have been sacked or replaced in the last 18 months, all by the Kremlin. How can the Kremlin do this? Because in 2004 Putin "changed the law to abolish elections to these posts". Yes, that's right, the Russian people can no longer elect their own governors.

This article is related to one that Curtis posted. Basically, China has a monopoly over "rare earth metals" which are vital for " wind turbines, advanced batteries, disc drives, flat-screen TVs, smart bombs," etc. The point being: it would be very bad if the rest of the world was cut off from these materials, especially for green-energy. Currently there is worry that China will become the new Saudi Arabia, except with rare earth metals instead of oil. However, we should carefully examine the facts before we brand China as the big bad materials-hog. There are some very interesting points on multiple sides of this debate in the article.

This is a little random, but I stumbled upon this interesting infographic. Fun Fact: China exports to the US are valued $337.8 billion (roughly 15% of our total imports)

The EU plans to increase next years budget for infrastructure and other projects while taxes and pay cuts increase across European borders. Some say this will curb austerity and keep the shaky economy afloat, but others argue that the EU's headquarters in Brussels is too remote to understand the impact this has on each of the 27 countries. Many are fed up that national governments must cut down on public spending while the EU increases their own budget. This article showcases one of the many difficulties in the management of a transnational body.

An interesting article I found, sort of as a follow up to the previous article I posted about Western and Eastern philosophies. Title says it all.

Intriguing article about differences in "universal values"

Once again, partitioning land between Hindus and Muslims does not go well for all. An Indian court decided that a 2.7-acre piece of land in the town of Adhoya would be shared between Hindus and Muslims (the Hindus were given a larger part). The debate over this piece of land had triggered "the worst sectarian violence in India since the subcontinent was partitioned in 1947". Another reminder of religious tensions in the Indo-Pakistani area.

Oh, for reference, 2.7 acres is approximately 117,612 square feet or 0.0042 square miles.