A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the World Wide Web.
Washington University economist Stephen Williamson presents a distressingly believable outlook for the Canadian economy, with help from George Mason University economics professor Tyler Cowen.
Mr. Williamson's thesis, which goes well beyond Canada, is that the housing and resource booms of the early 2000s masked some structural changes in North American economies that will make growth extremely difficult in the years ahead,
"Canada is running the danger of becoming a super-unequal, brain-drained, Dutch-diseased resource-based economy."
Two mostly unrelated stories about China underscore the stark contrast between the country's incredible economic achievement and the mounting dangers of a credit-related collapse.
The first notes that "China has completed at least one large [electrical power] dam per day since 1949. If dams of all sizes are counted, China's total surpasses 85,000."
The second story details the rapid collapse of the Chinese property market, a sector that economist and author George Magnus called on Twitter "the most important market sector in the world."
Apple's $3.2-billion (U.S.) rumoured deal to buy Dr. Dre-founded headphone supplier Beats has caused a bit of an uproar, with reactions ranging from disgust to effusive praise. But as Yahoo Finance senior columnist Mike Santoli noted on twitter, "By the time Beats deal closes, $AAPL will have made more in free cash flow than it costs."
Back to Canada, Andrew Leach wrote an excellent takedown of some spurious anti-Keystone Pipeline analysis. Mr. Leach grants that there are justifiable reasons to oppose Keystone, but the hyperbole and manipulation from some quarters is actually hurting the anti-pipeline cause.
The U.K.'s Telegraph presents evidence that capital flight from Russia is reaching epic proportions and Vladimir Putin may have taken notice.
"Why are Canadians working so much more than Americans?" - Stephen Williamson
"Stephen Williamson on the United States, and Canada" - Marginal Revolution
"Won't somebody think of China's property developers?" – FT Alphaville (registration, but no subscription required)
"Mindblowing facts about China" – Marginal Revolution
"Apple close to buying headphone maker Beats" – ROB
"If Draghi is right, capital flight from Russia is epic. Is that why Putin blinked?" – Telegraph
"If we're going to have a conversation about greenhouse gas impacts of a pipeline, let's have them on an honest footing." – Andrew Leach from Macleans
Diversion: Keith Richards may have been on to something – "Mice vampirism is a bloody fountain of youth - Next Big Future
(An earlier version of this blog post incorrectly stated Stephen Williamson's employment affiliation)
Scott Barlow