The Rise of the Artificially Intelligent Hedge Fund

We brought an antenna to Davos to track private air travel, and here’s what we found Quartz

The Rise of the Artificially Intelligent Hedge Fund Wired

Hedge Funder John Paulson Puts Up His Own Fortune to Save His Firm Vanity Fair. I’ve said this before: Paulson despite his ginormous subprime short profits has never been a good money manager. If you are running money for third parties, you need to be particularly attentive to the first rule of investing, which is do not lose money. He had a not very good track record before that, and always was way too predisposed to take a a small number of highly risky bets. And it was one of his subordinates, not Paulson, who found the subprime short opportunity and persuaded him to invest in it

Robert Wood, Bank Julius Baer Hit With $547M Criminal Tax Evasion Penalty, Two Bankers Plead Guilty

An Idiot’s Guide to Prosecuting Corporate Fraud Dave Dayen, Intercept

Labor senator Sam Dastyari has warned there is something "fundamentally wrong and rotten" with Australia's entire political system, claiming there are 10 huge companies with so much power and influence they have killed proper democratic process at the federal level in this country.
In a firebrand speech in Canberra this week, delivered with the enthusiasm of someone with their eye on the party leadership, Mr Dastyari told a Politics in the Pub audience that he thought he understood power before coming to Canberra as a senator. But his time in Parliament House has opened his eyes to the realities of the political-business nexus in Australia in a way he could not have anticipated
"Four banks, and we all know who they are – the Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac, and ANZ – three big mining companies, in Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, and Fortescue Metals, you've got your two big grocery chains, and you've got your big telco, which is Telstra"

Labor machine Senator Sam Dastyari claims 10 companies have taken control of Australian politics 

  Baird in a bind over secret land grab Plans for a new 55,000-seat stadium are putting the SCG Trust on a collision course with the PM.  

With a smartphone in almost every pocket, it’s time more businesses joined the digital race or else risk being left behind. This report explores how to stay ahead of the ever-evolving digitisation curve, from building an API software strategy for success, to extracting meaningful data from the cloud and putting customers at the centre of digital strategy. It also charts the disruptive startups on track to make billions and the top five digital marketing techniques to counter ad-blocking  The Digital Economy

Cyber security is climbing its way up the boardroom agenda as UK firms face determined attacks from organised hackers  Cybercrime

Tax Haven USA – part two: Rothschilds (nearly) confirms Tax Justice Network position 

Tax Haven USA – part one: 12 New York law firms advise on how to move dirty money to the USA  

Tax bosses cosy up to corporate giants but threaten ordinary people 

Paulson Pledges Personal Holdings to Back Firm After Assets Fall Bloomberg. Resilc: “Except the ones in Caymans, Swiss, Singapore, Dubai and….”

Richest US universities reel in donors Financial Times

Automated Ports Have Dockworkers in the Netherlands Threatening Strikes Motherboard

China accuses George Soros of ‘declaring war’ on yuan Guardian


Laika, the first dog in space, has her capsule built around her. No provisions were made for her return, and she died in orbit. 1957




While businesspeople travel in order to trade or invest, more than half of international business travel seems to be related to the management of foreign subsidiaries. The global economy is increasingly characterized by global firms, which need to deploy their know-how to their different locations around the world. The data show that there is almost twice the amount of travel from headquarters to subsidiaries as there is in the opposite direction. Exporters also travel twice as much as importers.
via Ricardo Hausmann, with further interesting points ...

Tories accused of shortchanging public as £26bn privatisation haul revealed Guardian  Wait, that’s the point of privatization…the mistake is the bad PR

Paul Battista (Law Office of Paul Battista, Manhattan Beach, CA), The Taxation of Crowdfunding: Income Tax Uncertainties and a Safe Harbor Test to Claim Gift Tax Exclusion, 64 U. Kan. L. Rev. ___ (2016)

Revolving Doors: Google spreads tentacles inside political class

 The problem with cash transfers: the people who don’t get them grow angry

“Energie Who?” you’re perhaps wondering. Energie Future was only registered in August, and its managing director is Sydney entrepreneur and economic optimist Rick Somerton, who in a past life headed the GET travel and conference group. Energie appears to have hired the friendly folk at Cato Counsel to handle PR, although they’re not lobbying the Commonwealth yet. Such lobbying will be needed, as approval for the project will depend on the Commonwealth because of the impact on matters of national environmental significance. The office of Environment Minister Peter Garrett  — who’d have a fine view of the drilling rigs from his beachside electorate of Kingsford-Smith  — says it is yet to receive an application. Setting Sydney’s coast on fire

Digital currency firm co-founder admits to US money laundering charge

Moscow may hit Google, Apple and Facebook with a 'technology tax' 

The Economist, Going After Google:

Britain’s Tax Men Struck a Poor Deal. But the Real Problem Lies With Flawed International Corporate-Tax Rules