The top of today's reading list asks if safe assets should remain with negative real interest rates ........ and the tenth article shows the impressive gains for solar energy technology. The bonus (11th article) is an analysis of global income inequality.

• Weird is Normal (Frances Coppola, Piera) Frances Coppola has contributed to Global Economic Intersection, most recently here. Are negative real interest rates for safe assets the new normal? Should they always have been the normal?

• All-cash home sales reach new high (Quentin Fottrell, MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal) 42% of purchases of residential property in November were all-cash.

• Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire (Charlei Stross, Charlie's Diary) Hat tip to Naked Capitalism.

• Why Life Expectancy is Misleading (Priceonomics) Much of the change in life expectancy over the lasy century is from rduced infant mortality.

• No, Human Sacrifices Do Not Lead To Economic Growth (John Aziz, Piera)

• BIS Sounds Alarm Over Record Sales of Payment-in-Kind Junk Bonds (Katie Linsell, Bloomberg) Hat tip to John O'Donnell. These notes give borrowers the option to pay interest with more debt. In 2013 issuance totalled $16.5 billion, higher than the previous record of $11.1 billion in 2007. The amount for 2012 was $6.5 billion. Another credit bubble?

• The Plight of the Employed (Paul Krugman, The New York Times) The unemployed may have it tough but it is not a great time to be employed either.

• 7 things you should have learned in 2013 — but didn’t (Jeff Reeves, MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal)

• UBS: Utilities face “perfect storm” from renewables, storage (Giles Parkinson, REneweconomy) Another report indicating that traditional electrical generation is being priced out of the market by renewables, specially solar. Where are all the people who, 3-4 years ago, were ridiculing the possibility that "expensive" solar could ever be an economically viable source of electricity?

• 7 impressive solar energy facts (+ charts) (Zachary Shahan, abb-conversations.com)

BONUS

• Income Inequality in Global Perspective (Roger Pielke Jr, Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog) Hat tip to Robert Millman. This is a great discussion of global income distribution.