They describe economics as 'the dismal science' and it's hard to disagree when you read an article posted at Zero Hedge by Pater Tenebrarum via Acting-Man blog concerning the condition - nigh unto death's door! - of the Japanese economy. It really is quite extraordinary when I look back to the '60s, '70s and '80s when Japan was promising to rule the economic earth. It simply could not do anything wrong - it made what we all wanted at prices we could afford and its family-centred people worked hard and saved for their futures. Where did it all go wrong - and how did it go wrong?
It has been stuck in the economic doldrums for decades now and the emergence of a new prime minister offered, dare I say, 'hope 'n' change' - yeeeeees, quite! In essence, Mr. Abe followed the lead of the early Mr. Keynes (he changed his mind later, I believe) and simply let the printing presses rip which meant that his government could borrow as much money as they could print! Do you see a teensy-weensy flaw in that idea? Anyway, acording to Mr. Tenebrarum, this economic version of a self-perpetuating machine, is doomed to failure - and it might be fairly soon. This is doubly unfortunate given that I was rather hoping that Japan would act as something of counter-threat to Chinese ambitions. Well, she won't be much of one if she goes bankrupt!