Tundra,
I have been thinking about this Japanese banking situation. On the surface, it is comical that they keep announcing these on again off again agreements. Bottom line, I find it strange that it seems like the bad debt figure is back to the US$600B range, vs the $1 trillion of a few weeks ago.
What is the real figure?
Furthermore, bad debt is not the only problem of the banks, as you referenced in your post. If bad debt is compounded by grossly inflated assets, then solvency may be a bigger deal.
This whole scenario seems to be about 2 kids fighting over which flavor of ice cream to buy, when they never had any money to buy the ice cream in the first place. Instead of worrying about whose plan they should use to bail out the banks, the first step should be to figure how much. The second step should be to go to the people and get the money. The final step really doesn't matter that much, the taxpayers of Japan WILL be paying for it.
There has been discussion about soft vs hard landing. To me, it is not only desirable but necessary. Japan and the global economy cannot handle anything hard today, without risking a panic reaction.
Just 2 cents.
Ramsey |
