Is China facing a Japanese future?

  This is a continuation of a series of article regarding China’s “miracle.” To read the first part, click here.   Inflation has been and remains the single largest problem for the Chinese Government’s attempts to mollify the Chinese population. It is the one issue that can truly negate a rise in incomes or other economic growth: if inflation is 10%, a 10% raise doesn’t actually mean you’re better off.

For a brief moment, Canada, a global leader in the unconventional energy revolution that unlocked massive new deposits in the oil sands, shale gas and tight oil, could legitimately call itself an energy superpower. It’s an assertion that the federal government continues to make. But there is a new global energy power shift going on: Asian consumers are emerging as the new energy superpowers, and the benefits to Canada or its future as an energy kingpin are not so clear.

A robot suit that can help the elderly or disabled get around was given its global safety certificate in Japan on Wednesday, paving the way for its worldwide rollout. The Hybrid Assistive Limb, or HAL, is a power-assisted pair of legs developed by Japanese robot maker Cyberdyne, which has also developed similar robot arms.

I saw this headline over at Calculated Risk regarding the new “monetary policy” in Japan: And from the Japan Times: Japan’s economic minister wants Nikkei to surge 17% to 13,000 by March

The escalating dispute between China and Japan over an archipelago of rocky islets known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan has curbed Japanese exports into China, forcing Tokyo to fast-track moves to distance itself economically from its larger neighbor.

The Ponzi schemes and off-balance sheet loans in China's banking system are in the forefront of today's news. Reuters reports Bank of China executive warns of shadow banking risks A senior Chinese banking executive has warned against the proliferation of off-book wealth management products, comparing some to a Ponzi scheme in a rare official acknowledgement of the risks they pose to the Chinese banking system.

Japan's parliament on Friday approved a new central bank management team that is widely expected to support the government's demands for more action to stoke the world's third-biggest economy.