Wednesday morning readings

My creativity is hitting new lows; fortunately there are several better minds around the world deserving a reading:

- Tyler Cowen is around here, and dares to answer the multimillion dollar question: why real interest rates are so high in Brazil? (Marginal Revolution)

- Wanna raise profits by 67%? Cut provisions for credit losses by 83%. Banks' balance sheets are pieces of fiction (Bloomberg).

- 120 years of home prices in US (The Big Picture).

- Schroders discusses Germany and the future of the euro (Scribd).

- The Economist's forum discusses capital controls, their utility and application (Economics by Invitation).

- Dani Rodrik, his meeting with Saif Qaddafi and the moral dilemma of helping dictatorships (Project Syndicate).

- A good summary of Scott Sumner's defense of nominal GDP targets (Adam Smith Institute).

Japan - is the sun rising again?

Edward Chancellor, author of the quasi-classic Devil Take the Hindmost, provides an unusual bullish view on Japan.

Edward Chancellor - Japan