Switzerland

• With a 2 Year delay, both FT and WSJ start covering the shadow banking system. For our ongoing coverage for the past 2.5 years see here.
• Trouble in shipping turns ocean into scrapheap (Telegraph)
• First-Quarter Home Prices Down 20.7% in Capital (China Daily)
• Bernanke Says Banks Need Bigger Capital Buffer (Reuters)
• Monti’s Overhaul Can’t Stop Pain From Spain: Euro Credit (Bloomberg)
• Spain Confronts Crisis Threat as Rajoy Seeks Deficit Cuts (Bloomberg)
• Japan’s Noda Announces Anti-Deflation Talks as BOJ Sets Policy (Bloomberg)
• White House makes case for Buffett Rule (CNN)
• Cameron to Make Historic Myanmar Trip (FT)
• 'Time for Closer Ties' With India (China Daily)

Even Bigger than Ben Bernanke! (short-term, anyway ...)

What we need to understand is that we are in one of the most dangerous phases of this crisis at the moment. The priests of fiat are being attacked from all sides. People have awoken to the Fed and how criminal and deceitful this organization is and the existential threat it poses to economic freedom and hence human liberty. The arguments against the Fed are blistering and the only rebuttal the Fed has is to spout the same old nonsense like “we saved the world” or some trite derivative of this fallacy. The only thing they saved are untalented speculators from their bad bets. What the Fed has systematically done is literally transfer all of the bad debts and bets from the banks to the taxpayer. We are living this reality to this day. This fact is becoming increasingly understood throughout society, hence the emergence of the tea party and then last year’s Occupy Wall Street movement. So the thing I want my readers to really internalize is that the Fed and indeed TPTB generally are getting slaughtered in the intellectual arena and they know it. As a result, they feel cornered and will thus act increasingly aggressive to prove they are right and everyone else is wrong.

Six centuries ago, when London and Paris were irrelevant, plague-infested backwaters, and New York City wasn’t even on the map, the greatest city in the world was Nanjing– the capital of the Great Ming. At the time, Nanjing was not only the most populous city on the planet, it was also the pinnacle of civilization. Art, science, technology, and commerce flourished in the Ming Dynasty’s liberalized economy, which constituted a full 31% of global GDP at the time. (By comparison, the US economy is roughly 25% of global GDP today…) Taxes were low, the currency was strong, and overseas trade thrived. For a time, Nanjing truly was the center of the world. Over the next several hundred years, the tide shifted. The Ming Dynasty fell, and power was transferred further west to the Ottoman Empire, and eventually to Europe which had finally emerged from the Dark Ages as the most advanced civilization on Earth... This phenomenon has lasted for several hundred years now… but as history has shown repeatedly, power centers frequently shift. The world is now witnessing yet another transition of power, this time from west to east, as the US-led western hierarchy suffocates within its own debt-laden Keynesian fiat bubble.

• Greek PM does not rule out new bailout package (Reuters)
• Euro zone agrees temporary boost to rescue capacity (Reuters)
• Madrid Commits to Reforms Despite Strike (FT)
• China PBOC: To Keep Reasonable Social Financing, Prudent Monetary Policy In 2012 (WSJ)
• Germany Launches Strategy to Counter ECB Largesse (Telegraph)
• Iran Sanctions Fuel 'Junk for Oil' Barter With China, India (Bloomberg)
• BRICS Nations Threaten IMF Funding (FT)
• Bernanke Optimistic on Long-Term Economic Growth (AP)

• 6.0+ Magnitude quake strikes near Tokyo (USGS)
• Ireland Faces Legal Challenge on Bank Bailout (Reuters)
• Bernanke says U.S. needs faster growth (Reuters)
• Spain Promises Austere Budget Despite Poll Blow (Reuters)
• Orban Punished by Investors as Hungary Retreats From IMF Talks (Bloomberg)
• Obama vows to pursue further nuclear cuts with Russia (Reuters)
• Japan's Azumi Wants Tax Issue Decided Tuesday (WSJ)
• Australia Losing Competitive Edge, Says Dow Chemicals CEO (Australian)
• OECD Urges ‘Ambitious’ Eurozone Reform (FT)
• Yields Less Than Italy’s Signal Indonesia Exiting Junk (Bloomberg)

While much heart palpitations are generated every month based on how much of a seasonal adjustment factor is used to fudge US employment, many forget that a much more serious long term issue for the US (assuming anyone cares what happens in the long run) is a far more ominous secular shift in US population - namely the fact that everyone is getting fatter fast, aka America's "obesity epidemic." And according to a just released analysis by BNY ConvergEx' Nicholas Colas, things are about to get much worse, because as the OECD predicts, by 2020 75% of US the population will be obese. What this implies for the tens of trillions in underfunded healthcare "benefits" in the future is all too clear. In the meantime, thanks to today's economic "news", fat people everywhere can get even fatter courtesy of ever freer money from the Chairman, about to be paradropped once more to keep nominal prices high and devalue the dollar even more in the great "race to debase". Our advice - just pretend you are going to college and take out a $100,000 loan, spending it all on Taco Bells. But don't forget to save enough for the latest iPad, and the next latest to be released in a few weeks, ad inf.

Next week will be relatively light in economic reporting, and with no HFT exchange IPOs on deck, and the VVIX hardly large enough to warrant a TVIX type collapse, it may be downright boring. The one thing that will provide excitement is whether or not the US economic decline in March following modestly stronger than expected January and February courtesy of a record warm winter, will accelerate in order to set the stage for the April FOMC meeting in which Bill Gross, quite pregnant with a record amount of MBS, now believes the first QE hint will come. Naturally this can not happen unless the market drops first, but the market will only spike on every drop interpreting it for more QE hints, and so on in a senseless Catch 22 until the FRBNY is forced to crash the market with gusto to unleash the NEW qeasing (remember - the Fed is now officially losing the race to debase). For those looking for a more detailed preview of next week's events, Goldman provides a handy primer.

A growing number of Americans are frustrated with the way in which their economy has been managed and are becoming increasingly concerned about future measures the government may take to keep its coffers full. A question that is arising with increasing frequency is: does expatriation offer a viable protection to those concerned about a more financially-intrusive US system? The short answer is 'yes' but while it does offer a solution to ending one's obligations to pay US taxes - it's important to understand that it's not suitable for everyone. Mark Nestmann gives a great nuts and bolts breakdown of what's involved and what the benefits and risks are

• Beijing on edge amid coup rumours (FT) - as predicted two days ago, do not expect any official media update on this critical matter, until after the outcome, whatever it is
• Goldman scours emails for use of word "muppets" (Reuters)
• Germany to Balance Budget Early (WSJ)
• Osborne Gives and Takes From Rich in U.K. Budget Balancing Act (Bloomberg)
• Big Spending at Fannie, Freddie Should End, Watchdog Says (Bloomberg)
• Volcker Says U.S. Needs Reforms in Finance, Government (Bloomberg)
• Chinese Firms, Regulators in Talks on Yuan-Fund Program (FT)
• Ireland Said to Ready Bank-Debt Proposal for ECB Review (Bloomberg)

After a disappointing home sales print in the US (as the shadow overhang remains heavy), some perspective on just how bad it is in Europe is worthwhile. With Spanish yields starting to blow out again, it likely comes as no surprise that, as Goldman notes, the Spanish housing market (and for that matter the periphery in general) is bad and getting worse. However, Ireland remains the worst of the worst and Goldman sees yet another growing divide between the haves and have-nots of Europe as the residential property price performance can essentially be split into four groups: Strong, Recovering, Weak, and Ireland/Spain; with the latter perceived as considerably worse than the 'reported' data would suggest. Is it any wonder that Spain trades wide of Italy again now and as Citi's Buiter noted earlier, Spain is now the fulcrum market (Spanish 10Y spreads +30bps from Friday's tights).

• BHP Billiton sees China iron ore demand flattening (Reuters)
• Australia Passes 30% Tax on Iron-Ore, Coal Mining Profits (Bloomberg)
• State Capitalism in China Will Fade: Zhang (Bloomberg)
• Venizelos quits to start election campaign (FT)
• Fed’s Dudley Says U.S. Isn’t ‘Out of the Woods’ (Bloomberg)
• China Is Leading Foreign Investor in Germany (WSJ)
• Fed undecided on more easing: Dudley (Reuters)
• Martin Wolf: What is the real rate of interest telling us? (FT)

This week brings policy decisions in Taiwan and Thailand. The CBC decision will be very interesting to watch. The December statement at the time was surprisingly hawkish, only to be followed by a large upside surprise in inflation, and the TWD was subsequently allowed to appreciate. Given that the bank continues to view inflation as a major problem, according to quotes from Reuters, it will be very interesting to see how the bank weighs up concerns about hot money inflows vs the need to contain inflation risks. In particular, in the face of imported inflation pressures via higher commodity prices, many central banks may shift towards accepting the need for more currency strength. The week also brings some important central bank commentary. The RBA governor has an opportunity to opine on the recent slew of weak Australian data, as well as developments in the A$. There is quite a bit of commentary from Fed officials on the docket, including from Bernanke, which we will dissect for information on the further direction of policy. More dovish commentary than that of the FOMC last week, would arguably be a surprise and potentially dampen, if not reverse some of the moves of last week.

All you need to read.

The current situation within the European Union should not be a surprise to anyone.