Links, this time is different edition

1) Horrifying Portuguese demographics

2) A Shari’a economic festival, in Indonesia and hosted by the Indonesian central bank

3) Shari’a government bonds look a lot like sixteenth century European pre-reformation land backed private bonds (when Greece had issued such bonds bondholders would, after the default, have owned quite some Greek property).

4) German retail sales are increasing and Germany is investing in its future

5) This is so different… Germany is the only 2008 Euro member where 2013 GDP per capita is higher than before the crisis (but remember: it took till 1953 until Dutch GDP per capita surpassed the 1929 level)

6) This year, Halloween costumes (which are increasingly popular in Europe) were scarier than ever