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To: TobagoJack who wrote (2274)	3/6/2001 10:47:36 PM
From: westpacific	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

"But just as the failure by America to view this tragic mishap in a broader historical context, so too in the economic sphere, the US Treasury’s incessant focus on the deficiencies of the Japanese financial system, whilst simultaneously ignoring the slow but steady change in the relative balance of financial power between the two countries" Jay - this is just too the point of what I said a few days ago. The reality is the Japanese will own us soon - and we have our heads in the sand! Scary indeed, the Japanese are very rich, whilst the Americans are very poor. Of course we do have better real estate! West

To: TobagoJack who wrote (2274)	3/6/2001 11:43:28 PM
From: WTSherman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Jay, I think its a pretty good article and fairly accurate about the Japanese. They are definitely tired of hearing Americans tell them about what's wrong with Japan. There's really two issues here. One is the security issue and there it just doesn't seem to make much sense anymore for the U.S. to have long term military commitments in Asia. Unentangling them would, of course, be extremely difficult since they are very much like dominos. Its hard to imagine how the U.S. could have a credible defense arrangment with S. Korea if we didn't have bases in Japan. But, that's really a problem for the Koreans to figure out... The other issue is Japan's economy and their attitude to the U.S., the west and everybody who's not Japanese. There I have less sympathy or empathy with the Japanese. Like most strong national cultures they can be incredibly arrogant about things(as can Americans, Germans, French, Brits, Chinese, etc.), but, unlike Americans they have little introspection about why they do the things they do and very little critical questioning. When the Japanese were on top of the world they were just about unbearable in that sense. You may recall the article from the early 80's where a Japanese columnist suggested that the U.S. cede California to Japan. As absurd as that suggestion was, there were lots of Japanese people who thought it very appropriate. We'll see, I suppose how it all works out. Nonetheless, I would personally prefer it if the U.S. came up with a 10 year plan to withdraw all military forces west of Hawaii. If, as I doubt, this results in China becoming the dominant power in Asia...well, so be it. But, China has historically never been an expansionist power so I'm not too worried for the rest of Asia. WTS