Ultraviolet Galaxy

SPACE WATCH
NASA – This mosaic of M31 merges 330 individual images taken by the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope aboard NASA’s Swift spacecraft. It is the highest-resolution image of the galaxy ever recorded in the ultraviolet. Also known as the Andromeda Galaxy, M31 is more than 220,000 light-years across and lies 2.5 million light-years away. On a clear, dark night, the galaxy is faintly visible as a misty patch to the naked eye.

The irregular shape of the image results when the more than 300 images were assembled to make the final image. more> http://tinyurl.com/278weeo

Image Credit: NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler (GSFC) and Erin Grand (UMCP)

The Fed’s impending blunder

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard – For a good insight into the thinking of the New Keynesian priesthood that rules our money and our lives, it is worth reading “QE2: How Much is Needed?” by Jan Hatzius from Goldman Sachs.

His argument – crudely – is that US interest rates at zero are 7pc too high given the Taylor Rule on output gaps, et cetera.

I suspect that something else is happening at the Fed. Bernanke is refusing to accept that the US must go through the slow painful cure of debt-deleveraging. He is trying to air-brush away the consequences of 20 years of debt creation and Fed error. more> http://tinyurl.com/256nvx2

Internet is now worth £100bn to UK economy

By Rupert Neate – Experts believe the internet now wields a bigger influence of the British economy than construction, transport or utilities.

The report, commissioned by Google, found that Britons spend a higher proportion of their money online than any other country in the nations of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). more> http://tinyurl.com/29fo676

Is there a way out of the currency war?

By Laurence Copeland – As long as China keeps its exchange rate more or less fixed, the dollar is not a wholly US currency – it is the currency of two countries, one massively in deficit , and one massively in surplus. The fact that they are separate countries in every other respect makes no difference. De facto, China and USA share a single currency. In the Eurozone everyone uses Euros, whereas in the dollar zone the overwhelming majority use a dollar-certificate, a piece of paper bearing a picture of Mao Tse-tung and exchanging for about 15 U.S. cents.

It is hard to understand why China has voluntarily accepted this arrangement, which forces it to accept whatever monetary policy the U.S. Federal Reserve chooses. more> http://tinyurl.com/2e2hpoh

3 Potential Consequences of ‘Currency War’

By Jeff Kleintop – Despite these (G20) calls for action, the “currency war” is unlikely to end anytime soon. It is primarily the result of the bifurcation of world economic growth. Many developed countries see further stimulative monetary policy, which lowers interest rates and pumps more currency into the system, as a necessary response to subpar growth.

There are three primary potential consequences of the ongoing currency war:

1. A global currency agreement
2. More monetary stimulus around the world
3. Emerging markets try to close the doors

more> http://tinyurl.com/36pnuht