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Microsoft issues new details about its surprise decision to accept bitcoin for digital goods this December.

Chinese bitcoin exchange OKCoin released their full-screen trading interface today. According to the bitcoin exchange, the interface was designed for futures as well as the new addition of person.-to-person lending. The full-screen view is reminiscent of what someone is watching candles on BitcoinWisdom might be accustomed to, but allows for direct trades on OKCoin. To the […]

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I'm sure you can guess the title. 

In a paper set to be presented at a January 4 conference in Boston, four economists with the surname of "Goodman" wrote about surname-sharing in economics (via John Overholt of Harvard's Houghton Library).

The authors include Allen Goodman of Wayne State University, Joshua Goodman of Harvard University, Lucas Goodman of the University of Maryland, and Sarena Goodman of the Federal Reserve Board.

The title: "A Few Goodmen: Surname-Sharing Economist Coauthors."

As the authors write in their conclusion, "Our main contribution is showing that such a collaboration is feasible." Which is excellent.

The paper will be presented as part of the American Economics Association's 7th Annual Economics Humor Session in Honor of Caroline Postelle Clotfelter. Some of the other titles set to be presented at the conference include, "Was that Rational? The American Economic (Year in) Review", "Homer-Economicus: The Simpsons and Economics", and "Rockonomix: Integrating Economics and Popular Music."

Back in November, Paul Krugman wrote about the intra-disciplinary hand-wringing that was going on in economics following a paper that said, basically, successful academic economists are really arrogant. So it's good to see some economists taking a break from in-fighting and urging for more collaboration among authors that share names. 

But the excerpt of the Goodman paper made available ahead of the conference isn't just, well, a big joke or something. 

As the Goodmans write, "The phenomenon of coauthorship in the economics profession has been widely explored."

The authors note that in 2012, less than 25% of economics articles were written by a single author, and find that research has shown evidence of "alphabetical discrimination," meaning that economists with earlier surname initials have greater career success. 

Good thing I'm not an economist. 

The Goodmans also find that among 9,000 unique economists, 45% share a surname with at least one other economist, and within that group, that 10% share a surname with more than 10 other economists. The most popular surnames among economists are:

• Smith (35)
• Lee (30)
• Brown (24)
• Chen (22)
• Miller (21)

The Goodmans also uncovered a 2008 paper from the Van Praag father-daughter tandem that explored phenomenon of alphabetical discrimination, which the Goodmans write, "for whom the issue is quite salient in all research but the paper in question."

The Goodmans also conclude that they are the first paper written by four economists with same surname, arguing that the 2012 paper written by Skarbek, Skarbek, Skarbek, and Skarbek contains just two economists — Brian and Erin Skarbek are husband and wife attorneys, while David and Emily Skarbek are the economists. Additionally, the Goodmans argue that since the research for the project began before either woman took the Skarbek name, "We therefore suspect that the share surnames may be endogenous to the publication process itself."

The paper concludes with the Goodmans naming names and calling for action:

"Future breakthroughs on this topic should be possible. We believe much could be learned if only economists John Turner (University of Georgia), Lesley Turner (University of Maryland), Nicholas Turner (US Treasury Department) and Sarah Turner (University of Virginia) would find a way to work together. Substantial progress might also come from collaboration between Janet Smith (Claremont McKenna College), Jeffrey Smith (University of Michigan), Jeremy Smith (University of Warwick), and Jonathan Smith (College Board), whose work could explore the impact of both surname-sharing and first initial-sharing. Finally, we encourage cousins Erzo F.P. Luttmer (Dartmouth College) and Erzo G.J. Luttmer (University of Minnesota) to consider collaborating for reasons too obvious to state. This area seems ripe for exploration."

Sure. 

We've embedded the preview below.

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Plummeting downward by approximately 56 percent over the last 12 months, Bitcoin was recently crowned as the worst performing currency of 2014 according to Bloomberg.

Two months ago we reported that crypto-anarchist Cody Wilson disclosed that he would run for a board seat on the Bitcoin Foundation for no other reason than to disband the organization from within. Also read: Cody Wilson Plans to Destroy the Bitcoin Foundation Now he has written an article where he elaborates on why the […]

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Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan spoke out on bitcoin at a televised event late last week.

Bitcoin Price actions seems to be seeing out 2014 doing what it’s done best all year. The decline is, by now, extended to the point of disbelief, yet it shows no sign of letting up. We take a look at some technical chart features that may present targets lower down. Bitcoin Price Analysis Time of […]

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Chain's Eric Rykwalder examines how bitcoin APIs have been a boon for developers over the last year, and looks ahead to what 2015 might bring.

UK house-price inflation has slowed for four months in a row, but prices in London continue to rise faster than anywhere else

12.57pm GMT

So much for the eurozone crisis.

Italy and Spain, the countries deemed to be most at risk from the ripple effects of a Greek default, have seen yields on their 10-year bonds fall to all time lows.

12.02pm GMT

Network Rail’s chief executive will not get a bonus this year, following Christmas travel chaos caused by overrunning engineering work.

Mark Carne, who was criticised for being on holiday at the time of the disruption, could have picked up a £33,000 bonus.

I am accountable for the railways and the performance (over Christmas) was not acceptable so I have decided that I should not take my bonus this year.

He earns a salary of £675,000 and was on holiday in Cornwall while engineers were undertaking repair work.

We welcome this decision by Mark Carne but, like many of his trains, it is running late - 72 hours late in this case.

He should have announced it on Sunday when it became clear of the level of chaos suffered by tens of thousands of passengers caught up in the King’s Cross shutdown.

Following my letter yesterday, welcome NR boss won't take bonus. But time ministers acknowledged their responsibilities for rail chaos too.

11.46am GMT

A Greek exit from the eurozone might be back on the agenda, but in one Baltic country the talk is all about joining the currency.

Lithuania will become the 19th member of the currency union on Thursday. The country, with a population of 3m people, is the last of the Baltic states to join, following Estonia and Latvia.

Joining the eurozone finalises this very important process. The advantages of being the Nato member, the EU member, the eurozone member are absolutely evident for everyone.

Up to now, all members of the central bank’s policy-setting Governing Council have had a vote on policy. This will change next year with Lithuania becoming the currency bloc’s 19th member.

Voting rights will now be divided according to the size of countries. The largest five countries will share four votes, while the smaller 14 countries will share 11 votes.

11.11am GMT

The slowdown in the Italian economy has ended, according to the country’s economy minister Pier Carlo Padoan.

The minister told Corriere della Sera he expected a boost to consumer and business confidence.

“After three years of recession ... employment is starting to grow again.

10.50am GMT

Russia’s economic troubles are getting so much attention that it is easy to forget that Ukraine is also at risk of financial meltdown.

Ukraine’s currency, the hryvnia, has plummeted in value against the dollar in 2014, putting huge strain on the country’s reserves.

10.39am GMT

Greece’s early elections risk damage its creditworthiness. So far, so unsurprising, but when the warning comes from a ratings agency it is worth paying attention.

In a statement issued today, Fitch predicts that political uncertainty will remain high for months after the 25 January election.

If the left-wing opposition Syriza party wins the largest share of the vote, it will receive a 50-seat bonus and will therefore be part of any government that is formed.

Syriza has maintained a lead in the opinion polls over the incumbent centre-right New Democracy party since coming top in May’s European elections.

There are two main channels through which political risk could put pressure on Greece’s credit profile. Firstly, prolonged deadlock with the Troika combined with a lack of market access would strain the government’s cash-flow by the summer, even assuming the budget was kept under tight control. Secondly, depending on the reaction of bank depositors to developments, the wider Greek economy could come under pressure from renewed capital outflows. Both of those factors would also put pressure on the new Greek government and its foreign creditors to reach an agreement.

Syriza’s leader, Alexis Tsipras, has moderated his party’s stance since 2012 and has committed to maintaining a budgetary primary surplus and to honouring Greece’s obligations to IMF and private creditors. However, the privatisation programme would most likely stall completely under a Syriza-led government and there would be upward pressure on the public sector wage bill. The property tax may also be targeted for removal and overall fiscal risk would increase.

10.14am GMT

Weather watch

It's snowing in #Athens! No doubt, SYRIZA is responsible for this #Greece

9.58am GMT

Let’s take a closer look at this morning’s house price data and depress anyone who wants to get on the housing ladder.

House price growth is slowing in every single UK region except the northeast of England.

Looking ahead, significant restraint on house buyer interest and prices is still expected to come from more stretched house prices to earnings ratios, tighter checking of prospective mortgage borrowers by lenders and the prospect that interest rates will eventually start to rise in 2015. Many people may also be deterred from buying houses because they look pricey in a number of areas after recent sharp rises.

Even so, the weakening of buyer interest in houses may be close to bottoming out and we see it picking up to a limited extent in 2015 from current levels.

9.40am GMT

If bank credit is anything to go by, the eurozone economy is still in the doldrums.

Lending to households and firms in the eurozone fell in November, albeit at a slower pace than previous months.

9.30am GMT

The European Commission is toeing a diplomatic line ahead of Greek elections triggered by the loss of yesterday’s presidential vote.

Pierre Moscovici, the European commissioner for economic and financial affairs, has been interviewed on French television this morning. Moscovici was criticised last month for interfering in the Greek presidential vote, by praising the Greek government.

I want, we want, Greece to remain in the eurozone; it is good for the zone and it is good for Greece

I fully respect the democratic choices freely made by the peoples of Europe.

We must preserve the euro, our single currency, which is a common good.

The eurozone is today more solid than in 2009-10... There is nothing to fear

8.45am GMT

Solid, not spectacular. That pretty much sums up retail analysts’ verdict on Next’s latest trading update.

The retailer also gets credit for not resorting to Black Friday discounting.

Just like last year, Next has managed to allay fears about the impact of the apparent discounting frenzy pre-Xmas on the High Street, delivering solid +2.9% sales growth in the period from Tuesday October 28^th to Wednesday December 24^th.

Next’s initial view on 2015/16 is cautious, despite a relatively benign UK economic outlook, but it is still confident enough to declare another 50p special dividend and raise its indicative share buyback limit from £64.25 to £67, so there is plenty here for the City to be pleased with.

Kicking off the festive reporting season, Next has posted a solid set of numbers, especially so given that they are measured against some tough year on year comparatives (last year total sales were up 11.9%).

The figures are a vindication of Next’s refusal to engage in pre-Christmas discounting, including the popular Black Friday event. While this may have cost Next some sales growth over the reported sales period, we believe that it has not lost it much, if anything, in terms of profits. Indeed, this is reflected the profit guidance which is some £5m ahead of where it was in October.

8.33am GMT

European stock markets, including the FTSE100, have opened on a downer.

Market watchers are blaming oil prices, which fell to a new five and a half year low on Tuesday.

8.12am GMT

Shares in Next are up 2.7% this morning, after it reported healthy sales in the run-up to Christmas.

Next said total sales rose 7.7% in the year to 24 December. Full-price sales were up 2,9% in the final quarter, at the upper end of the company’s expectations.

7.57am GMT

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and the business world.

The gap between the London property market and the rest of the country is growing wider, with house prices in the capital accelerating faster than anywhere else.

This marks the fourth consecutive month in which annual growth has moderated, despite house prices increasing by 0.2% month on month in December. The 7.2% increase recorded over the year as a whole, is modestly lower than the 8.4% gain recorded in 2013.

While cooling in the London market is a part of the story, this is not the main explanation for the slowdown evident in the UK figures in recent months. Indeed, annual price growth in the capital continued to outpace every other region in the UK, at 17.8% in Q4. Overall, 12 of the 13 UK regions saw the pace of annual price growth slow.

If the economic backdrop continues to improve as we and most forecasters expect, activity in the housing market is likely to regain momentum in the months ahead. Supply side developments will be crucial in determining the trajectory for prices. There are encouraging signs that construction is starting to pick up.

Hopefully, this will set the stage for house price growth gradually converging with income growth in the quarters ahead.

Belgian nonprofit APOPO is now accepting bitcoin donations to detect land mines and tuberculosis in Africa and Asia.

Stealth payments are a technique for protecting the privacy of recipients in a Bitcoin Transaction. So-called “standard” transactions are pseudonymous. ECDSA key pairs abstract the identity of users. No mechanism exists to hide or encrypt standard transaction information in the block chain. With stealth payments the exception, full transaction history is available for every Bitcoin […]

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When Satoshi Nakamoto, a name widely believed to be a pseudonym for a small group, published the specifications for Bitcoin back in 2008 the effort was not widely recognized at first. One of those who did understand the implications was cryptographer Hal Finney. His early entry into mining Bitcoin provided him with the funds he […]

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Coinbase has been one of the driving forces in the growth of Bitcoin over the past two years. They have brought many major mainstream corporations into the Bitcoin fold recently, with Mozilla (Firefox), Time Magazine and The United Way among them. Now, it seems they are prepared to bring one more mainstream ingredient to consumer’s […]

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