In the economy marches on category, I learned yesterday from the 'CLOSING DOWN EVERYTHING MUST GO' sign that our local video store -- across the street from the image shown here -- in Cadboro Bay is closing.

I will miss the part-time employee foreign student from Germany who I practiced my six words of German on (I am sure he will really miss me).

Kaput.

The owner always had a wonderful range of movies -- read not Hollywood -- and was pretty good at steering me to the one that both my wife and I would like -- 'yeah you know something with a foreign twist, action spy type of thing built around a cat theme with a reasonable body count'.

They also sold ice cream and other stuff that brought families in particularly in the summer on their way down to the beach. It made me think about how important the market is in 'circling' people together, learning stuff, sharing information that small neighbourhood stores are best at that.

Which is one of the principal reasons why healthy societies require a strong market economy.

Oh well.

So articles that Blockbuster has declared bankruptcy, and that in the 21st-internet-youtube century a company -- Netflick -- would actually hire actors to work at a media event instructing them to 'be excited'.

The mind boggles.

And the perils of America's political debate coming to Canada, state capitalism, China's Asian push back, being Prime Minister of Japan, cutting deals in the Arctic, the Fed's QE2 -- no not the ship --, and being broke at fifty.

** The link to my talk 'The Japanese and Chinese Economies: Lessons for Canada' http://www.excellentfuture.ca/paul-summerville/the-economies-of-japan-and-china-lessons-for-canada

Flopped.

Video rental giant Blockbuster Inc. is filing for bankruptcy protection in the United States, but its Canadian operations say they're not affected by the reorganization.  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/blockbuster-files-for-protection/article1719915/

What we have to look forward to.

Netstupid.

Netflix apologizes for using actors to meet press at Canadian launch. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/netflix-apologizes-for-using-actors-to-meet-press-at-canadian-launch/article1718924/

The venom oozes across the 49th parallel.

Who could have predicted it?  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/anti-intellectualism-political-venom-moves-north/article1719331/

Jon Stewart on Bill O'Reilly's show.

Bill gets nailed. (ed's note: no it is not normal that you always call your guest by their last name, "Stewart').

We're not going to bore you with a detailed re-cap of Jon Stewart's appearance on Bill O'Reilly's show last night, or comment on who won, or use terms like "shredded" or "ripped" or "face-off." We're just going to tell you that it's a video worth watching.  http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-oreilly-and-jon-stewarts-strange-love-hate-chemistry-2010-9

Speaking of nailed.

The Republican Party that brought the United States massive deficits and two wars fought without conscription recoils at being hijacked by radicals. Go girls.

The primaries have ended with a clear winner: Sarah Palin. In seven Senate contests, the Tea Party candidates she championed defeated more moderate, better funded and experienced Republicans. Having positioned herself at the head of this decentralised, populist movement, the former Alaska governor has become a bigger object of fascination – and a greater threat to the political status quo – than ever.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aa01c0c8-c5b5-11df-ab48-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss

One of the themes of my talk yesterday at the Harbourside Rotary club was the risks of state capitalism http://www.excellentfuture.ca/paul-summerville/the-economies-of-japan-and-china-lessons-for-canada.

A few articles about Vietnam and China where the obvious problem state capitalism brings is overinvestment and export dependency plus corruption.

HANOI—The near-collapse of one of Vietnam's flagship state-owned companies is exposing the limits of this country's economic renaissance.   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704652104575493520176041784.html?mod=djemWMPAsia_h

The Economist on the dangers of everybody doing the same.

 

ON THE edge of Hanoi brick-walled factories lie abandoned, weeds sprouting in their ruins.  http://www.economist.com/node/16953208

 

Martin Wolf on the risk to China's state directed economy. Top heavy.

“In the case of China, there is a lack of balance, co-ordination and sustainability in economic development.”  -- Premier Wen Jiabao  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a1df57c0-c5b5-11df-ab48-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss

China's sharp elbows are creating some push back.

The U.S. and its Asian allies are starting to push back at China's growing assertiveness in the region, strengthening security ties and taking more robust positions in territorial disputes in the East and South China seas.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704814204575507731570730468.html?mod=djemWMPAsia_h

 

Related.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao “strongly urged” Japan to immediately and unconditionally release from custody the captain of a Chinese trawler, threatening further action if Japan refuses.   http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/world/asia/23chinajapan.html?_r=3&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=globasasa1

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan -- oh I get it, Kan Kan -- is ready to 'get things done'. With the observation that Japan is the only country where the leader changes between good morning and good evening -- he is 15th in 21 years -- firmly in mind, the scale of the structural challenges that Kan faces is mind numbing,

For us, policies that inflect the child fertility rate up or increase immigration would be a good start. A country whose labour force is shrinking by 0.5% a year has very little chance of growing very much.

In just three months as Japan’s prime minister, Naoto Kan has seen his government suffer devastating defeat in an upper house election, fought off a leadership bid by a heavyweight rival from his own party and grappled with global currency markets. Now comes the hard part.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cdb28962-c67d-11df-8a9f-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=crm/email/2010923/nbe/Analysis/product

 

 Norway and Russia lecture Canada on the art of the Arctic deal.

It is often said there are few truly untamed places left on Earth, but the windswept horizons of the Arctic surely qualify. Some political analysts maintain that the geopolitical landscape is equally harsh – a lawless region poised for conflict due to an accelerating “race for the North Pole.”   http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/canada-take-note-heres-how-to-resolve-maritime-disputes/article1715307/?cmpid=rss1

 

Central Bank Quantitative Easing in a few simple lessons. Dollar down, gold up.

With the Federal Reserve poised to restart asset purchases later this year if the economy does not improve, there is an active debate within the central bank over what such a programme should look like.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/17406f2c-c66f-11df-8a9f-00144feab49a.html

ed's note: yes the next phase of bond purchases by the Federal Reserve is known as QE2 and yes there was an ocean liner whose short form name was QE2. Hmmm ocean liners, icebergs, active central banks, hyper-inflation, all the ingredients are there for a great metaphor.

Related.

The Federal Reserve broke a taboo yesterday when it said quite baldly that inflation in the US is now below the level “consistent with its mandate”. In other words, it is too low.  http://blogs.ft.com/gavyndavies/2010/09/22/the-fed-breaks-a-taboo-on-inflation/

 

Related.

Looming public spending cuts and a patchy economic recovery are pushing the Bank of England towards further quantitative easing, the minutes of this month's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting suggest.  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bank-of-england-edges-nearer-to-further-qe-boost-2086987.html

I sometimes ask the bright young people at the tills at Pepper's if they are saving 20% of their pre-tax income usually when I notice a new set of purple-hued finger nails (they really like being asked that).  

This is why I ask.

For many people, it is an idea too scary to contemplate. For others, it's reality.  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/50-years-old-and-broke-now-what/article1613463/