Commentary on Japan’s adjustment, America’s hopeful jobs report, the Rundown, the world’s greatest chicken wing eater, surviving globalisation, and how Prime Minister Harper thinks about Canada's greying future.

As countries get richer and mature how do they compete in the global economy? An interesting article about how Japan’s manufacturers have levered technology to survive. Thanks to Charley of Toronto.

Japan's Position in East Asia's IT Industrial Networks
Japanese manufacturing, under pressure from trade friction and a strong yen, has shifted from its original export focused structure by relocating its industrial bases, and particularly its production functions, overseas.

January’s non-farm payroll report is just what President Obama needed, now the question is what about the bond market? (ed’s note – it was a gargantuan job number that undid the bond market in the spring of 1995).

Wall Street Journal -- Did Economy Really Create 500,000 Jobs?
According to one little-followed measure, the economy created nearly 500,000 jobs last month — about twice as many as the government’s official figure of 243,000.

On the other hand.

Chart of the Day -- The current number of US jobs is still below its 2001 peak.

The Rundown. Thanks to Russ of Victoria.

Pdf file – The Rundown – Go 2012 Go!

As the world turns. The world’s five-time chicken wing eater comes out of retirement for number six. Yikes.

New York Times – ‘El Wingador’
I have been fascinated by champion eaters for over 30 years.

Francis Fukuyama on the fate of societies where the middle class is dying.

Foreign Affairs -- The Future of History
Can Liberal Democracy Survive the Decline of the Middle Class?

Kitakyushu – name of a Japanese city -- gets tough on the yakuza. Thanks to Jeremy of Tokyo.

New York Times -- With Risk, Japanese City Takes On Once Accepted Fact of Life: Its Gangsters
Two years ago, the authorities in this gritty rust-belt region declared war on the yakuza, Japan’s entrenched organized crime syndicates. And that is exactly what they got.

Prime Minister Harper’s vision of the future.

Globe and Mail -- Stephen Harper's census
Stephen Harper owes his success in no small part to his mastery of demographics, having tailored his election platform to winning enough seats in key pockets of Ontario and elsewhere to achieve a majority.