Ramsey - If you "trust" that they are going to do what is right for you, then I think you are a little too trusting an individual.
First, that is about the most one the more negative views of humans I've seen in a while, but in any case I was referring to trust in the form of enlightneded self-interest. The Chinese may have as dangerous an attitude now as we did back in the era of the Monroe Doctrine, or the Japanese did prior to WW-II. (Along the same lines, the most dangerous person in a bar isn't the biggest guy, or the meanest guy, but the cockiest guy most concerned with image. Of course he is probably equally dangerous to himself, but that's his problem.)
They [the Japanese] don't need our direct help. The help that we can provide, such as buying Japanese products and pushing our trade deficit, Japan does not need to ask. They just do it.
I disagree, and so do many influencial Japanese economists. As one said in the Economist recently, they (the government) just don't know how to fix their system. My concern is that if we force our 'help' we won't be helping at all. (OTOH Some mild pressure is probably good as well. As the same Japanese economist in the Economist said, without some external pressure the Japanese would never change. I don't know what the real answer is here, but I'm leary of pushing too hard.)
Also don't forget that their bubble already burst, so what if they just do nothing and let time cure all?
So you are saying their economy can't fall any further? While I agree that the Japanese are having a huge delay between their equity crash and their economic crash, that doesn't mean the second isn't going to happen, and as a direct result.
We are the ones who are worried that our bubble economy is about to burst. May be thats why we are so insistent that Japan do something now. Think about that one.
Wow! Something we agree upon.
Clark |
