Bloomberg Businessweek has a thought-provoking article on the rise of China, past Japan into the world’s economic No. 2 spot, and how Japan might be the model it follows, which may not be the best for China as it would lead to turmoil and disquiet.

Bloomberg Businessweek’s John Lee writes,

Although “capitalism with Chinese characteristics” does not seek to replicate any particular model, its similarities to the Japanese approach are striking. Like Japan in the 1970s and ’80s, China is nearing the end of its reliance on exports and fixed investment to drive growth—and looking to shift toward policies that can enhance domestic consumption. To achieve this, it is seemingly blessed with an authoritarian government that can concentrate on policies that need not sacrifice the country’s long-term interests for short-term political expediency.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the world’s most definitive work on the English language, may no longer be printed because of the Internet’s negative impact on print book sales. It all boils down to economics: online OED subscribers in America now plunk down $295 annually, while the massive 20 volume set, last published in 1989, costs $1,165. To date, there have been 30,000 sets sold. The print version is commonly found in university libraries, while its price and size render it beyond the reach of the average reader and student. Nonetheless, the 130 lb. OED is the only dictionary that provides examples of English words stretching back hundreds of years in history.

Two experts blame the iPad and e-books for the demise of print books like the enormous OED set:

In the Daily Telegraph, Nigel Portwood, the chief executive of OUP, claims that,

The print dictionary market is just disappearing, it is falling away by tens of per cent a year

Mr. Portwood further commented that printed dictionaries have a shelf life of about another 30 years, with the popularity of e-books and devices such as the Apple iPad and Amazon’s Kindle ever increasing the pace of change.

Also in the Telegraph, Simon Winchester, author of “The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary,” also realized that the switch towards online formats was imminent:

Until six months ago, I was clinging to the idea that printed books would likely last for ever. Since the arrival of the iPad, I am now wholly convinced otherwise. The printed book is about to vanish at extraordinary speed. I have two complete OEDs, but never consult them – I use the online OED five or six times daily. The same with many of my reference books – and soon with most. Books are about to vanish; reading is about to expand as a pastime; these are inescapable realities.”

For those with limited means, there is always the online Compact Oxford English Dictionary and OneLook Dictionary Search, all of which pales in comparison with the larger subscription-based OED website and its weightier original and unabridged print version.

More jolting news about Barnes & Noble in New York. Due to a whopping rent increase, its popular Upper West Side megastore on West 66th Street is closing its doors at the end of January 2011. The four-story store has been a neighborhood fixture since opening in 1995, a space where celebrity authors held book signings and book readings for Lincoln Center visitors. It also houses a cafe and a music section, one of the few remaining bricks-and-mortar locations selling CDs and DVDs in New York, with the closings of Tower Records and Virgin Megastores over the last few years. Even non-book buyers are sad to see the location closing.

Meanwhile, billionaire investor Ronald W. Burkle is locked in a dispute for control of Barnes & Noble, whose shareholders believe he is unfit to serve on its board.

Mitch Albom, world famous author of the Locus Publishing bestselling books “Tuesdays With Morrie,” “The Five People You Meet In Heaven,” “For One More Day,” and “Have a Little Faith,” will be visiting Taiwan this week.

On Thursday, September 2nd, Mr. Albom will be giving a lecture entitled, “How One Story Touches Another and Another” from 7:30-9:00 p.m. at The Taipei International Convention Center, Taipei 101 Building, No. 1 Hsin-Yi Road, Section 5 in Taipei.

Unfortunately, due to incredibly great demand, all the tickets to this unique event have been given away.

For those with tickets, doors open at 6:30 p.m. and close at 7:15 p.m. so please arrive on time in order not to miss this special engagement with Mitch Albom in Taiwan.

Evan Osnos, a staff writer in Beijing, reports in his Letter From China blog at The New Yorker magazine that despite the historic news that China has overtaken Japan as the second greatest global economy, Chinese media and even Chinese people in the street have reacted with less than elation and even an air of incredulity at the news.

Recently, Chinese media has played up the fact that the world’s biggest chocolate show– Chocolate Wonderland– was held in Beijing and that China has had the world’s largest I.P.O. with the Agricultural Bank of China, and yet becoming an economic superpower is received with gloomy self-criticism by the Chinese. Shouldn’t there be a more positive and ebullient response as China ascends?

Barnes & Noble failed to change with the times fast enough, according to James B. Stewart at the Wall Street Journal. He sensed “an air of desperation” about their move to sell the bookstore, while company officials explained that the reason for the sale was because its shares weren’t valued high enough.

In his perceptive article, Stewart gives a personal response as to why Barnes & Noble stumbled and fell while Amazon.com kept on rising. Barnes and Noble promised free same-day delivery in Manhattan if ordered on-line by 11 a.m. but consistently did not deliver his goods to him on the same day, while Amazon delivered every package on time and even earlier than promised. Barnes & Noble’s clinging to traditional paper books and bricks-and-mortar stores, resisting e-books and the Web, was another chink in their armor.

At Bucknell University, their new university bookstore is a Barnes & Noble, as are many university bookstores across the United States. Crowds flock to the Market St. Barnes & Noble bookstore for books and coffee until late, later than other small booksellers in the college town of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Its grand opening will be over the Aug.27-29th weekend. Officials at Bucknell, a top liberal arts institution founded in 1846, are not worried about the sale of Barnes & Noble and do not foresee any changes. The bookstore sells a lot of Bucknell University textbooks and will keep doing that.

Stewart also has an optimistic view of the future, that Barnes & Noble’s troubles could be good for smaller independent booksellers:

I enjoy the community of other people who love books. I like talking to someone both before buying a book and after reading it. I think independent bookstores may be able to provide these services … I may be naive, but I’d like to think there are new opportunities for booksellers.

China finally overtakes Japan as the world’s number 2 economy. After three decades of robust growth, government calculations on Monday reveal how China has become a new superpower that commands respect from the world. China had already zoomed by Germany, France and Great Britain in the economic race, with the United States, the world’s top economy, firmly in its sights.

What will this mean for America and the world?

Will there be a surge in demand to learn Mandarin Chinese?