Commentary on the shadow of 1914, comic genius, rising stock market, the joy of capitalism, recovery in the US housing market, New York’s fight over teacher evaluation, Australia in Asia, and how the smoking ban killed bingo.

More history.

 

Financial Times -- The shadow of 1914 falls over the Pacific
China, like Germany 100 years ago, fears the established power is intent on blocking its ascent.

Harold Ramis.

Brett Martin Features -- Harold Ramis Gets the Last Laugh
What is there to say about Harold Ramis’s status as an icon that a game of Ramis Roulette can’t say more succinctly?

Enjoy the ride while it lasts …

Why capitalism matters, and why it needs help.

Slate -- Why Capitalism?
The one book on Wall Street you haven’t read—but should: William Janeway, Capitalism in the Innovation Economy: Markets, Speculation and the State.

 

‘Janeway, who built the technology investment team of Warburg Pincus, has a powerful message: an innovative economy “begins with discovery and culminates in speculation”. Unfashionably, he insists that the state plays a central role in the innovative economy, as a source of funding for infrastructure and research and as a guarantor of stability when financial speculation ends in disaster, as it tends to do.- -- Martin Wolf, FT

TD Economics bullish on US housing.

TD Economics – Is the US Housing Market Recovery Sustainable?
Some of the most positive signs in the US economy over the past year have come from the housing sector.

Impasse.

New York Review of Books -- Holding Education Hostage
For weeks, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the United Federation of Teachers have been battling over the issue of teacher evaluation.

Australia finds a home.

East Asia Forum -- Australia’s closeness to Asia
The Australia in the Asian Century White Paper said that for Australia, ‘The tyranny of distance is being replaced by the prospects of proximity’. It is true that Australia is in the right place at the right time. Australia’s neighbourhood is the most dynamic growth centre in the global economy.

Up in smoke.

National Post -- Despite loyal customers, Toronto’s once thriving bingo halls struggling to stay open
It is almost 1 p.m. inside Delta Bingo, where the tangerine glow of a neon Super Jackpot sign mixes with blue and purple walls.

Noted: OECD Better Life Index