Bobby, I'am in the camp that what you see is not only what is not really there,
but down the road what will happen will be much the opposite of currently seeing.
Using this type of logic I can predict that what caused the last collapse of the
Japanese economy is not only alive and well, but that once again it will be used by
the government of Japan. I am sure that each government leader understands that the
course taken will lead to the same unwelcomed destination as before. But what else
can these leaders do when all other options will identify not so much that they have
failed, but that the fabric of their culture does not weather well the elements of those
counties like the USA where a combination of wealth and military power has been
corrupted thru the misuse of it's strength, labeled crony captitalism.
Either Japan continues to a massive collapse with high unemployment and a
worthless paper money, or they change direction to the same path taken
before that brang them to their current position, or they change and become
like the USA and accept all those elements of the USA society presently
not allowed in Japan.
So looks like japan does not want to remain in the same place, so they will
backstep two steps and then later in time move forward two steps to the
location just left.
At least they buy some time and do not slip into an ugly type social type environment
where guns and violence are allowed thru non inforcements of laws on the books.
Damned if they do and damned if they don't. Too bad that they don't try and adapt
what works and reject what doesn't. But then that may again cause them to admit
that they have been poor leaders and the thought of not being a leader is wrost than
being a leader and knowing your are a poor one, as you can always lie to yourself,
and anyway its job security, the poor leaders cause poor conditions in the nation,
thus the poor people need help, your help. Just don't let them understand that
you caused their problems.
Japan Inc., Japanese Banking Merger ... not innovators but confused whales...
Japanese Banking Merger: return to Japan Inc.?
Dr. Neville Bennett, Christchurch, New Zealand
n.bennett@hist.canterbury.ac.nz
Three of Japan's top banks have agreed to merge to create the world's
largest banking group by assets. In another dramatic attempt to
regenerate the country's troubled financial sector, the Industrial Bank
of Japan, Fuji Bank and Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank will combine.....
The Japanese Government has been warmly receptive, promising legal support
to the alliance and expressing the hope that more banks will merge....
.... the merger does nothing to reduce the global isolation of the
banks. Nor does merging three banks with unhealthy balance sheets create
a new healthy bank. Moody's rating for financial strength remains at E+.
The new bank is hardly likely to be an international competitor against
the likes of Deutsche or Citibank. It will look more like a whale,
stranded on an isolated beach.
.... Nikkei recently responded to rumours that two other giant banks,
Tokai and Asahi, are about to ally. This would reinforce a trend to the
systemic concentration of the Japanese banking system into a very small
number of huge, ineffective, institutions....
These institutions seem to be becoming closer to the government. They
are already dependent on the government for relief of their bad debts,
for reducing foreign competitors' activity on their home patch, and they
seem to rely upon the government for direction and policy making. These
banks are not innovators but confused whales.... are starving
medium and smaller banks of funds, especially new business, new
industry, which has limited physical mortgage capacity.
These charges are very serious in the Japanese context, for Japan
perceives the world as a place not where firm battles against competing
firms, but as a place where nations compete against nations.....
Japan is actually reverting to state capitalism. Bank mergers are not
designed to fight Citibank or Hong Kong Bank, they are creating a
context for the centralized allocation of capital to industry. It is a
reversion to the bureaucratically directed system of state capitalism
that Japan first devised in the 1930s.
Japan's new policy is to increase its competitiveness against other
nations.....There is no evidence of classical economics. Rather, it is
blatantly state interventionist. Japan must raise growth by supply-side
measures to raise productivity...the heart of the plan is
government/business co-operation based on a division of roles.
Clearly these plans indicate that the Japanese Government is not
following the fashion for reduced state involvement in the economy.
Indeed the reverse is true; the state intends to become more involved in
industry and banking. Its rationale is fascinating: it is not economic
but nationalist.....
lepatron@lemetropolecafe.com with questions or comments
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