Doesn't such market manipulation destroy confidence in the markets and lead people to head for the exits? Also I've heard of laws against starting rumors and other Asian countries making speculation illegal?
What they really want to do is make a law that says stocks always have to go UP.<g>
Jack
Jack,
The question I would want to ask is: are Japanese officials ignorant of basic economics? You provide anecdotal evidence that it is. There is more.
1. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal ran an op. ed. forum, "Can the U.S. Weather Asia's Storm?" The editor asked twelve prominant business leaders and analysts to offer their comments. With but one exception, all of the comments were interesting and well thought out IMO. The exception was a spokesman described as chief diplomatic correspondent of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun whose comments were notably pedestrian (i.e., the U.S. should play a role of "importer of last resort", Japan cannot be allowed to trigger another Great Depression, etc)
2. The U.S. demonstrated years ago the tremendous benefits that derive from deregulation of securities markets. Yet Japan, more than 20 yrs later, is still playing catch up.
3. The U.S. demonstrated yrs ago the tremendous benefits to consumers that airline deregulation and greater competition brings. Yet, even today Japan drags its feet on opening its markets to price competition and freer entry.
4. The U.S. in the 1980's demonstrated for all the world to see the tremendous benefits to be derived from breaking up monopoly and introducing competition into the Telecom market. Yet, in Japan this industry remains a gov't monopoly even today.
5. The BofJ' extremely tight monetary policies, combined with failure of the gov't to provide fiscal stimulus to alleviate the recession, suggests that Japanese officials learned nothing from the U.S experience with the great depression.
6. Japanese officials seem to have learned nothing from the successful use of supply side economics practiced by the U.S. gov't in the 1980's. One can argue about whether the U.S. public debt at the end of the decade would have been higher or lower wihtout the supply side approach. There is no arguing about the benefits of the stimulus effect, i.e. the longest uninterrupted peacetime expansion in U.S. history.
Food for thought.
GN |
