Best part of Barron's is Abelson wit

Stu Rodnick writes that the best thing about reading Barron’s magazine is Alan Abelson, the iconoclastic columnist whose writing typically graces the front page.

Rodnick writes, “He would spin the weeks financial events, as he saw him, and provide a few good laughs with his monty python humor. So I am glad to see that he is back, after a leave from his post for a few months.

“If there is 1 great financial read each week, it’s his. This is what he had to say this week, about inflation.

“‘The principal engine of the global inflationary surge is, it’s no secret, China. And the latest data from that monstrously growing economic dragon shows it’s still breathing fire at a fantastic rate. Last month, the country’s industrial production rose an astonishing 17.9% and in the first quarter of this year, GDP sprinted ahead a blazing 10.3%. Besides an unshakeable thirst for oil, China has been bolting down industrial commodities at a truly awesome pace. According to Morgan Stanley’s Steve Roach, in ’05, it accounted for 50% of the growth in aluminum consumption, 84% of the rise in demand for iron ore, 108% of the increase in consumption of steel, and 115%, 120% and 307% in the growth of worldwide demand for cement, zinc and copper, respectively. How do you say ‘wow!’ in Chinese?'”

Read more here.