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A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the World Wide Web.

The Tim Hortons tie-up with Burger King became official Tuesday morning and investors looking for the tax drivers behind the deal should read the handy and entertaining guide to U.S. tax inversions by Bloomberg View's Matt Levine.

Mr. Levine notes off the top that "events have overtaken the chicken fries" and goes on to explain how the tax advantages to Burger King are more complicated than it looks. "The purpose of an inversion has never been, and never could be, and never will be, 'ooh, Canada has a 15 percent tax rate, and the U.S. has a 35 percent tax rate, so we can save 20 points of taxes on all our income by moving.'

"Burger King may move to Canada for the donuts " – Levine, BloombergView

The New Yorker profiled Vandana Shiva, an Indian anti-GMO (genetically modified organism) environmental activist who wants to turn back the clock on the nation's agricultural production and return to low-production subsistence farming. This view seems callous and bizarre to me in a country where starvation is an immediate concern to millions of people.

Should there be checks on the power of large seed and chemical companies? Absolutely, but to throw the baby out with the bath water at a time when emerging market economic development is sorely testing the global food chain will unnecessarily consign large chunks of the global population to a hand to mouth existence.

"Seeds of Doubt" – New Yorker

"As protein demand soars, bulk up on agriculture investments" – ROB Inside the Market

There has been no shortage of scare-stories on China's real estate market but this Financial Times report is still worth reading for amazing statistics like this one – that in some provinces "there is enough supply for more than seven years of demand."

The report notes that the Chinese real estate market, at only 15 years old, is far from mature. For Canadian investors, a slowing property market in China means slower demand for copper and iron ore.

"Property bubble is 'major risk to China'" - Financial Times

See also : "China's recent stimulus efforts have yet to relieve distress in lending and real estate." Wall Street Journal

Reuters reports that the Chinese government is investigating executives at FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co Ltd, a joint venture between Volkswagen and a local firm. China appears to be ratcheting up the pressure on global auto manufacturers in the country as rumours of appropriation of auto company production facilities continue to swirl.

"China corruption watchdog investigating execs at Volkswagen JV" – Reuters

See also (link from yesterday) "German car parts suppliers asked to form JVs in China" – Reuters

Tweet of the Day, "@ProSyn: Seven of the world's ten fastest-growing countries are in #Africa https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/viswanathan-shankar-describes-the-measures-needed-to-make-the-most-of-the-continent-s-many-opportunities

Diversion: "Amazing 1960s predictions about satellites, email, and the internet " – Gizmodo

Follow Scott Barlow on Twitter @SBarlow_ROB

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