re: there is some pain in Japan but it can't be too bad, or they would be doing something to remedy the problems.
You are assuming that they are capable of fixing their problems, and just aren't sufficiently motivated yet. Unfortunately, countries, like individuals, sometimes persist in dysfunctional behavior, in spite of the huge and longterm pain it causes.
Japan has yet to write off mountains of debt that have been uncollectible for a decade, and are still on the books of companies and banks. They cannot do what we did to fix our S&L problem.
Unfortunately, it looks like Japan is doing today, what Argentina did a hundred years ago. At the beginning of the 20th Century, Argentina had a standard of living comparable to the U.S. They had a rapidly expanding population, made up of the same kind of immigrants who were pouring into New York. But they mismanaged their economy, sank into 3d World status, and, a century later, have yet to recover. The ultimate L-shaped downturn. Human Progress is only an average; there are lots of exceptions. |
