|
I know you are smart since you write from the home of the radio show, "Car Talk", hosted by Click and Clack. Japan does have options. The process must begin with the leaders being honest with themselves, which so far, has not been the case. Stimulating demand would occur if the population believed that the nation were on the way to recovery, but legislative attempts to stimulate demand as an individual goal are foolish. Demographically, Japan is like a nursing home. What are those people going to buy more of? Dentures, Viagra? Intuitively, given the racial superiority complex of Japan, I would guess that their immigration policies are quite restrictive. Clearly having open borders could stimulate demand for housing and help those values. With the Japanese balance sheet creaking, having a larger pool of potential buyers for assets (for any auction) should create higher clearing prices for auctioned off assets. Therefore, opening up their markets to global players is important if they want to survive. If more of their economy were managed by firms who would not tolerate the inefficiencies of Japanese distribution systems, their economy would become rationalized, and they could compete again. |
