As the title may so subtly suggest, Japan finds itself in a gloomy economical situation, or it doesn’t find itself. Even though all other countries on the world have already recognized Japan in the world economy: as a moribund which holds on to their, already lost, position with a 20-year old inflated ego.
When, some may ask, did such a powerful, rich economy drown in their own debt, and most importantly, how?
Right after the 1992 Great Burble burst, economies throughout the world had their GDP`s chastised because of their methods that lead to such a disaster. After the initial shock the countries stood back up, attempted learning from their mistakes (questionable considering 2008), but they kept going. Unfortunately for Japan they were too high and too mighty to be shot down by the bursting of the bubble, so they decided to keep on going, through the fires of debt and flames of pride (Dante could really have written about this). Such a pleasant stroll didn’t seem to affect Japan anyhow, at least not on the short term, but on the long run… (and I know that Econ students have problems differentiating short and long term, but in this specific case the long term is when Japan noticed they were in DEEP S… DEBT, of course). That was how Japan managed to put itself in debt worth 180% of the GDP and stimulating deflation to a point that, once a number one consumer for luxury products became a world of saving and economical disintegration.
Little is there to be done in respect to Japan`s wrong decisions, its difficult, but I will say that it’s still in time to admit to their wrongly ways and attempt moving forward.
