Articles on Japan’s power problems, how immigration keeps crime down, the big game in the South China Sea, Australia and aboriginal people, exporting Germany’s short work week to the US, and doubts about the Chinese economy.

Japan’s energy knive edge.

Asia Sentinel – Japan’s Power Crunch
Dreaded summer has arrived in a Japan whose power grid is still crippled by the devastating March 11 earthquake.

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Economist – The Troubles of TEPCO
“THROW yourself into a nuclear reactor and die!” one investor shouted.

And from our friend in Tokyo, Jeremy.

New York Times – Japan’s New Wave of Protest Songs

Twenty-three years after the flamboyant rocker Kiyoshiro Imawano riled Japanese power companies and electronics conglomerates with a series of antinuclear songs in the wake of Chernobyl, the singer, who died in 2009, is still generating controversy.

Richard Florida writing from his Toronto perch on why immigrants keep crime rates low.

Financial Times – Why Immigrants Help Your City Stay Crime Free
US crime levels have fallen to their lowest reported levels in nearly half a century despite major unemployment and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

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Independent – The More People Come to the UK The Better it is For Us All
You may wonder what the latest population data might have to do with the wave of public strikes over pensions yesterday.

South Sea troubles.

Wall Street Journal – South China Sea Flashpoint
One of the world's flashpoints is the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

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East Asia Forum – China and the South China Sea: Time For a Code of Conduct?
In the last several months, a number of incidents occurred that highlight what appears to be a growing willingness on the part of China to use its armed strength to pressure and influence rival claimants, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam, in the disputed South China Sea.

 

The legacy of 1778.

Telegraph – Why We’re Debating 1778 and All That
In January 1788, the first fleet of ships carrying British convicts arrived in Botany Bay after an eight-month journey from Portsmouth.

Comparing Canada and Australia.

The Australian – Stimulus Package Earns Big Tick
THERE was a point at the end of 2008 when the two economies we used to compare ourselves with in envy, and the one we should be looking at more often, were heading in the same direction as Australia: into recession.

Germany’s short work week’s applicability to the United States.

Guardian – How to Make Short Work of Unemployment
Washington always does a superb job of focusing intently on problems that are of little importance.

Charlie Fell on the sustainability of the Chinese economy.

Charlie Fell – China, As Good as it Gets?
The study of economic history is a valuable pursuit, but all too often unfortunately, the questionable verdicts of respected academics have been seized upon by populists, and regurgitated as accepted fact in best-selling books launched on an unsuspecting public.

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East Asia Forum – China’s Coming Era of Slow Growth: Are Western Economies Prepared?
The mainstream view is that China can still go on growing at 8 per cent and above in the next five to ten years.