Utopia, you are standing in it!

So, what to make of the Governor’s final decisions on bank capital?

If you are a bank or bank shareholder, you are presumably just grateful for small mercies, the modest extent to which the Governor changed his mind and allowed the banks to use cheaper forms of capital to meet the new requirements.   Consistent with that, the share prices of the parent banks recovered some ground yesterday.

Since banks are scared of their regulators and –  both here and in Australia –  are very reluctant to seek judicial review, despite the very strong sense of pre-determination about this process, and the evident failure to engage seriously with substantive concerns raised by submitters, there isn’t much else they can do.  Their behaviour –  willingness to provide credit into this economy –  can, and probably will, adjust.  But if they won’t, or can’t, do anything more about the policy decision, grizzling…

Nice speech by Klaas Knot of Netherlands central bank.

He points how Bank of Amsterdam was doing similar things as today’s proposals for stablecoin:

On December 4^th a report titled “France anti-Semitism: Jewish graves defaced with Nazi swastikas” was published on the ‘Europe’ page of the BBC News website.

Towards the end of that report – throughout which the BBC once again used the wrong spelling of the word antisemitism – readers were told that: [emphasis added]

“On Tuesday night, France’s National Assembly passed a draft resolution that includes hatred of Israel as an example of anti-Semitism.

The definition, by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, has already been adopted by the European Parliament and several other countries.

A number of MPs from President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party voted against the resolution.”

The IHRA definition of course does not include “hatred of Israel” as an example of antisemitism. It does include the following:

• • Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
     

One for the ‘worse than we thought’ file. Anyone running out of power in an EV in winter due to sudden cold weather range reduction has no in-car way to keep warm while waiting for rescue.

Cold temperatures can sap electric car batteries, temporarily reducing their range by more than 40 percent when interior heaters are used, a new study found.

The study of five electric vehicles by AAA also found that high temperatures can cut into battery range, but not nearly as much as the cold, reports TechXplore. The range returns to normal in more comfortable temperatures.

Teslas in Norway [image credit: Norsk Elbilforening (Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association)]
EVs are looking like yet another ‘save the planet’ fiasco in the making. Some of the points made here were already known, but these studies reinforce them. As many EVs on the road are still relatively new, the full extent of any problems may not yet be clear. With the help of large subsidies and other incentives they sell well in Norway despite the cold winters there.

According to recent studies, cold temperatures significantly reduce the performance of electric cars, especially when it comes to battery life.

One study by AAA suggested that cold temperatures can reduce the range of the batteries in most electric cars by over 40 percent, reports Anonymous News.

It was also noted that the performance can be even worse when the interior heaters are used.

Labour’s rating  with  voters has  dropped   to its lowest in  two  years, according to  the  latest  Colmar  Brunton  poll.   This has provoked a  flurry of  action  by   ministers,   with  a  $400m  new spend on  schools  and  promises  of   big  infrastructure  projects  to  be  announced  in the  half-year  fiscal  update.

Finance  Minister  Grant Robertson    is sticking to his mantra  that the   economy  continues to grow at faster rates than the countries it compares  itself    with, notably  Aust, the UK    and   the  US—even though the Treasury   says  overall NZ GDP growth  is likely to  fall below Budget forecasts.

Two  per cent  GDP  growth  is  hardly  likely  to  create  any  surge of  enthusiasm,  especially if it keeps trending down.  For the  man and woman in the street,   cost of living  inflation  is  eroding  the impact of   any  recent  wage  increases.

As  for  the  politics,   the  government’s  claim  for its performance  in  what was  …