At the beginning of the April Japan came out with a new framework for monitoring the health of its citizens over 40. Otherwise know as a “flab check” it puts health insurance companies on notice to improve the physical welfare of its customers. You wouldn’t think Japan has a serious problem here but clearly the government does.

The analysis of the regulations shows an upward trend for obesity and metabolic syndrome with the accompanying costs. Japan already has a monster pension bill looming and health is just another area marked for a major budgetary blowout.

Health and nutrition are issues that governments have started to become very involved in. This leads us to the question of how far should governments go in their desire for us to have a healthy life. I would say not too far actually.

More and more the government is taking on people’s personal issues. This approach by the Japanese sets a dangerous precedent. It is against the law to hit your children but it isn’t against the law to be overweight or obese. Should the government attempt to intervene or leave it to the market?

By the market I mean the price mechanism as well as social incentives. The price mechanism can regulate food to some extent and also body mass (more expensive seats for larger people). Carrying a lot of extra weight can hurt in the pocket not just in the heart. Socially it can be difficult also with discrimination and exclusion from others.

The answer is not clear. Clearly something has to be done but are we prepared to do the hard yards (better diet and proper exercise) or wil lwe rely on the government to bail us out.

It will be interesting to see how this policy develops.

Some of you may have noticed the site was down (thanks James) due to the thousands of visitors causing my bandwidth to be exceeded. This was news to me. I had no idea there was a limit on traffic from visitors but there you go. So we are all back up and ready to roll.

At least I know people are reading this stuff

This is a big story. Wal-Mart has started to ration the amount of rice that people  can buy. Apparently this is the first time food rationing has happened in the US.

People don’t like the mention of the word “rationing”. It brings back dark memories, constructed or real’ of war economies and ration books. In our new world of credit on tap (or should I say old new world) we just have what we want when we want. The idea of not being able to do that is surely a restrction on our freedoms.

Well no it isn’t. The credit bubble that we’ve lived in post financial deregulation has lulled us in a false sense of entitlement and desire.  Hark back to the days where we had to save up for stuff or couldn’t actually buy things because we didn’t have the cash.

Those who have read my climate change paper will know it is based on establishing global quotas for fossil fuel production.  We have been living way beyond the ecosystems capacity to provide for us and the rise in food prices is a signal that we have a major problem.

This rationing which has been followed by Israel and no doubt other countries shortly.

Right then I’m off to the supermarket.

News comes of Fouad al-Farhan and his release after 137 days in jail. He was detained for being critical of the Kingdom and its repressive approach to government. Following on from my previous post on human rights in Saudi Arabia, this is no surprise.

The Kingdom is very sensitive to any mention of reform or greater freedom of expression. It has huge strategic importance in the Gulf area and has always been a major bulwark for the West against Iraq and Iran. At the same time its treatment of its own citizens has left a lot to be desired. In some ways its an example of the ultimate trade off between human rights and strategic concerns.

But the key issue here is one of freedom of speech. Many organizations have worked long and hard around the world to support people like Fouad who are imprisoned on no charge and on spurious grounds at best.

Amnesty is one and needs no introduction but Index on Censorship is another organization doing great work in preventing and informing us on cases of repression and curtailment of speech.

It’s a cause all bloggers should support.

The Olympic Torch continues to trip and stumble its way to Beijing. That there would be protests along the way was never in doubt but what has been a surprise is the mobilization of Chinese citizens along the way. In Australia there were clashes between Chinese supporters and pro-Tibet protesters. The same thing happened in Japan yesterday.

This is a new phenomenon and one that should be taken note of carefully. There are a lot Chinese living overseas, many of whom were glad to get way in the bad old days of communism and repression. Now things have changed. China is open for business and the most dynamic economy in the world. Suddenly its cool to be Chinese (well sort of) but just as India was “in” a few years ago, China is now all the rage. With this has come a new sense of purpose and national identity both in China and overseas. It certainly gives rise to a lot of comment and opinion.

Where this ends up is anyone’s guess but a resurgent China will be a shock for many people used to browbeating and looking down on China as simply a repressive regime with super cheap labour.

The Chinese vice commerce minister said on Friday “Chinese enterprise should transform themselves from purely from being exporters and importers to being multinational companies through overseas acquisition and production”. That’s a big statement. We’ve already seen this approach with  stakes being taken in US banks and industries but these guys are not messing around. With $1.6trln in reserves they can pretty much buy anything.

They are smart. Why buy US treasuries when you can buy US companies? They can spread influence using economic rather than military means and of course secure a constant supply of the resources required.

It’s a fascinating developmental process to watch and the ramifications are bewildering to imagine.

We certainly do live in interesting times.

We’re starting to see real signs of a weakening house market here in New Zealand. Sales for Auckland’s top real estate company are down over 50% and a recent auction saw a 6% clearance rate.

I decided ton investigate this myself in Christchurch and looked at some properties recently. One i saw was a 3 bedroom unit which had been bought for $375,000 a year ago. It could be rented for about $350 a week maybe a bit more if it had some money spent on it. It wasn’t in great condition but looked a reasonable investment property.

It was auctioned yesterday and passed in at $317,500. It still hasn’t sold.

We’re not really seeing this come through into prices yet because we only get the median price which is often misleading. In fact it can go up if a few properties sell in the higher brackets and none in the lower levels.

But it’s clear that prices are falling quite heavily in many areas and there is a buyers strike on at the moment.

Although there is the belief that property prices increase regardless the market is clearly starting to realise that capital gains are not guaranteed and therefore investors are starting to look more closely at the maths.

Mortgage rates are 9.5% for 2 years fixed. Yields are 3-5% and prices are falling. Even with the negative equity tax break that’s a big yield gap to fill. There is also the issue of not being able to borrow 100% of the price anymore.

With many fixed rates rolling over this year to much higher rates, the squeeze is really on. This will really start to impact when banks ask for properties to be revalued and then ask for extra equity.

Property investors, like banks, are facing a major liquidity crisis.  Price falls of 10-20% may not be as outlandish as previously thought.