Chinese inflation falls to two-year low

The last (or rather first) time China's National Audit Office conducted an audit of local government debt two years ago, in June 2011, it found that local governments and their various financing vehicles had taken on 10.7 trillion yuan of debt as at the end of 2010, which brought the issue of "underreported" high leverage in China to the fore.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares slumped on Monday after sluggish U.S.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper endorsed the Bank of Canada’s decision to stop warning about higher interest rates and predicted that naysayers on the economy will be proven wrong in 2014. Harper, in an interview Thursday at his Ottawa office, said central bank Governor Stephen Poloz’s policy is appropriate, and that critics focusing on a sliding currency and a weak December jobs report are being short sighted.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Friday he regrets that Canada’s housing agency has grown as large as it has and promised to take additional measures if a reduction in the amount of government insurance on mortgages is needed. The value of home loans insured by Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp., which is backed by the federal government, has almost doubled since the end of 2006, saddling taxpayers with a growing liability as policy makers warn that gains in house prices may be unsustainable.

Asian markets are higher in overnight trading. Chinese stocks were up in early trading but turned red after inflation data showed that consumer prices climbed 2.7% and producer prices fell 2.7%. The decline in producer prices highlighted China's excess capacity problems.

I try to find global economic data on manufacturing and manufacturing jobs, but it isn’t easy. This is one of the areas I will be working on with the time I have freed up by moving to Malaysia (and taking a “sabbatical” [it isn't really a sabbatical, I guess, just me studying and working on what I want to instead of what someone pays me to]).