Bamboo Innovator Daily Insight: 5 Jan (Mon) – Madoff’s Little Helpers: At first blush, they seem like ordinary people who simply had the misfortune to work for a man responsible for the greatest fraud ever. But jurors were convinced that these five were the ones who made the Ponzi scheme work

Life 

Madoff’s Little Helpers: At first blush, they seem like ordinary people who simply had the misfortune to work for a man responsible for the greatest fraud ever. But jurors were convinced that these five were the ones who made the Ponzi scheme work: Forbes

Modern tech entrepreneur decries old way of learning and thinking; PayPal co-founder and fabled start-up investor Peter Thiel muses on why luck is not a good thing and why Silicon Roundabout is a bad thing: Guardian

Crucibles of Leadership: HBR

Charlie Munger: Adding Mental Models to Your Mind’s Toolbox: Farnam

What It Really Takes to Be an Artist: MacArthur Genius Teresita Fernández’s Magnificent Commencement Address: BrainPickings

What Does Science Tell Us About Teaching Kids to Think? One thing seems certain: Just giving out more writing assignments won’t do the trick: Atlantic

How Disneyland Is Like Apple: BI

More scrutiny needed of retail forex trading platforms; Bets sold as way to dodge investment doldrums and get rich quick: FT

Slog to become government cog is long, hard and centuries old: JoongAng

How To Stop Procrastinating: 4 New Steps Backed By Research: Bark

The best digital security is analog: expert: TheAge

Are Conspiracy Theories All Bad? The United States has a long tradition of conspiracy theories – a reflection of a widespread suspicion of powerful groups secretly undermining democratic society: NYT

For the Indie Writers of Amazon, It’s Publish or Perish: NYT

Launching free banking was a mistake, says ex Midland boss; Hervé de Carmoy, who ran bank after it introduced free current accounts three decades ago, says free banking is now a major problem: Telegraph

How to approach your own career like an entrepreneur: Fortune

In the new year, spend your time wisely: BT

Building points of access: The founder of self-service terminals provider AXS thinks three steps ahead so as to capitalise on the next generation of solutions. BT

Law-School Program Emphasizes Practical Skills: WSJ

Albert Einstein: “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” : TODAY

Bruce Lee on Self Regulation versus External Regulation: Farnam

If You Want to Meet That Deadline, Play a Trick on Your Mind: NYT

A CEO Way With Words: Techcrunch

21st Century self-help gurus go Desi; A small but growing tribe of Indian authors is writing self-help books that tout desi values as the key to success in the workplace, and in life: Forbes

12 Public Speaking Habits To Avoid At All Costs: BI

Greater China

China’s Cities Face Judgment Day on Debts as Costs Soar: Bloomberg

Securities and Futures Commission has spun out of control in the Moody’s Red Flags case; China was selected for the first market in which this system would be employed and the results showed a forest of red flags. SCMP

China’s crackdown on tax evasion to impact cross-border transactions; Multinationals told to be more cautious about intra-group transactions as Beijing imposes stiff measures against avoidance and evasion: SCMP

Hong Kong and HSBC under scrutiny as US cracks down on American tax cheats: SCMP

Hong Kong’s tycoons look to shake off a tough year; “Paying fees isn’t in their DNA — but they do love ideas” : FT

TCL may have acquired Palm: WantChinaTimes

China’s high-end tea retail sales take a nosedive: ChinaPost

Shopping by phone turns up heat in China e-commerce battle: SCMP

Falling Through the Cracks of China’s Health-Care System; Millions of Migrant Workers Can’t Pay Their Medical Bills or Tap Insurance Benefits: WSJ

China frees prices of commodities, services in fresh reforms: Reuters

Losses of over US$9.6bn were recorded for the Chinese government while operating the country’s expressway network in 2013, yet the 19 listed expressway operators actually recorded a net profit margin growth of 20.59%: WantChinaTimes

Alibaba’s Tmall growing out of Taobao’s ‘little brother’ role: WantChinaTimes

India

Narendra Modi pledges India banking shake-up: FT

India to Consider Holding Company for Government Stakes in Banks: Bloomberg

UTI Aims to Dispel State-Owned Image: Indian Asset-Management Firm Targets Listing in Return to Dominance: WSJ

India PM replaces Soviet-style planning body, aiming to boost growth: Reuters

Political Risk Rises in India: Indian shares could offer a bumpy ride if Modi’s agenda gets stretched out or substantially altered. Barron’s

Japan & Korea

Samsung fights ‘mid-life crisis’: KoreaTimes

Samsung Takes Google Software Challenge to TVs After Phone Flop: Bloomberg

The apparel industry plans to attach a special tag to “genuine” Japan-made clothing to differentiate items made with high skill from cheaper products made in China: JapanTimes

Behind the wheel: Honda thinks outside the box: Journalist Jeffrey Rothfeder goes behind closed doors in a bid to discover the automaker’s global recipe for success: JapanTimes

ASEAN

AEC will pose huge challenge this year: Nation

Pebbles in Jokowi’s shoes in 2015 : JPost

Macro

Chaos Rules at Russian Hedge Fund as Boss Vanishes; Blackfield Capital CJSC was one of Moscow’s hottest hedge funds, hosting glitzy parties and embarking on ambitious plans to expand to the U.S. WSJ

Permanent capital: Perpetual cash machines; Private equity and hedge funds seek never-ending supply of money: FT

Directors are still not properly policing corporate dangers; Study of audit committees shows slow progress on monitoring accounts and risks; Tesco’s accounting issues have highlighted the role of directors in spotting problems: Telegraph

Betting on Default: Speculation with derivatives is back, the kind of risky behavior that led to the last financial crisis. And Congress is enabling it by weakening Dodd-Frank: NYT

The centenary delusion: Asia in 2014 was not Europe in 1914 after all, but the echoes warrant heeding: Economist

UK financial watchdog doubles interventions: FT

US should enjoy afternoon sunshine while it lasts; In 2015 Europe will still be waiting for Godot while America copes with return to normality: FT

France’s 75% ‘supertax’ quietly dies with few mourners: AFP

Mutual fund fee reform coming in Canada – maybe sooner than you think: FP

Fed officials and economists are cautioning about potential turbulence as the central bank moves to raise interest rates this year for the first time in nearly a decade: WSJ

Energy & Commodities

After the oil price fall, is natural gas next? FT

Here Comes The Saudi Dynasty Succession Crisis: BI

Canada’s Richest Grain Family Betting on Rebound in Oil: Bloomberg

TMT

Investor rush to artificial intelligence is real deal: FT

Investigation Discovery Network Makes Crime Pay: NYT

The Future Of Digital Media In 2015: Techcrunch

How two entrepreneurs hope to push 3-D printers into homes and schools: FP

International CES: The Internet of Things Hits Homes: NYT

Big Banks Can Survive Mobile Ice Age; Mobile Technology Won’t Kill Large Lenders, but Smaller Ones May Struggle to Adapt: WSJ

The Race to Build Command Centers for Smart Homes; Nest Labs, Wink and Other Household Gadget Makers Vie for Space on Store Shelves: WSJ

Healthcare

Aging population lifts China’s medtech market: ChinaPost

Consumer & Others

Struggling supermarkets sitting on more than 1,000 acres of land; Food retailers building on just 6pc of land as falling sales leads to projects being scrapped: Telegraph