The Daily Feather — High and Low

Described as “the pictorial Shakespeare of our time” by Steven Spielberg, “a giant” by Martin Scorsese, and “one of my true heroes” by Spike Lee, Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa is one of cinema’s all-time greats. While best known for epics like Seven Samurai, we’re partial to High and Low, his 1963 crime thriller in which a wealthy executive of a shoe-making company finds himself victim to an extortion plot. The story follows Mr. Kingo Gondo who puts his life savings on the line to try and gain control of his company, National Shoes, via leveraged buyout. However, the sudden kidnapping of his chauffeur’s son forces the ruthless businessman to choose between his life’s work and paying the ransom to save the young boy. Gondo lives in a beautiful home on a hilltop, overlooking the poor residents of a shantytown below, one of whom the police believe is responsible for the crime. Part police procedural and part class commentary, the film’s game of cat-and-mouse between cops and perpetrator is equal parts nerve-wracking and enthralling.

Here at QI, we do our best to comb through the latest economic data, calling out “highs” and “lows” to our readers that pique our interest… or ring alarm bells. The first chart in this Monday missive does the latter, and speaks to a “low” pointed out by our Mentor-in-Chief, Dr. Lacy Hunt. Per the sage himself: “Revolving consumer credit declined in the 12 months ended June. This was weaker than at the start of all the recessions since 1970. This indicator, historically, has not turned negative until the economy was in recession.” There’s nothing like a “weaker than any point since you were born” data point to bring it home.