Japan's economic performance under Shinzo Abe | The Economist

[Martian2]

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been in office for three years. He claimed that he would rejuvenate Japan's economy.

Look at The Economist graph below. Japan's nominal GDP has remained flat for three years and Japanese national debt has kept climbing. It looks like Shinzo Abe dug a deeper hole of debt for Japan without improving Japanese GDP.

The Japan solution | The Economist

 

[seven7seven]

In fairness, it is very hard to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a 20+ year old corpse.

 

[TaiShang]

In fairness, it is very hard to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a 20+ year old corpse.

Maybe there is a time when the present lifestyle cannot be sustained and Japan needs to rescale its economic priorities. Cutting down on the US military should be one of the priorities because under the host country scheme Japan burdens most of the economic costs of the US military presence.

I do not even talk about the horrible social/moral costs of hosting some 40.000 US person in Japan. Must be terrible for local populations.

For this, probably Mr. Abe needs to go first.

@Nihonjin1051 .

 

[Martian2]

Japan could have been very different.

Instead of the constant economic recessions, Japan could have been a growing economy.

For example, Germany's Volkswagen jumped at the chance to enter the Chinese car market. VW sells about three million cars annually in China.

Reference: 2014 (Full Year) China and Worldwide German Luxury Car Sales

About 15 years ago, the Chinese government invited Toyota to set up a manufacturing plant in China. The Chinese government offered land, electricity, and generous tax breaks. Toyota declined. Today, Toyota is a minor automaker in China (behind VW, GM, Ford, etc.).

Another example is that China and Australia has an FTA. In contrast, Japan is many years away from an FTA with China.

Finally, Japan's leadership is terrible at handling Sino-Japanese relations. China is the world's largest growing economy at about US$1 trillion per year. Yet, Japan's economy is stagnating. This means Japanese leaders are doing a terrible job if they can't benefit from the world's largest growing economy next door.

Japan's leaders usually take an anti-China stance. This is self-defeating. Without Chinese help, the Japanese economy will continue to stay moribund.

However, former Japanese prime minister Hatoyama made a mistake in trying to attain neutrality between China and the United States. He said that he wanted Japan to be equidistant between Beijing and Washington. That will never fly with the Americans.

In conclusion, I am still waiting for a smart Japanese prime minister. This mythical leader would pledge adherence to the Japan-US military alliance within reason and work relentlessly to build economic bridges with China. This is the only road to economic prosperity that I see for Japan. Knowing the Japanese political establishment, I am not holding my breath in waiting for the emergence of a smart Japanese prime minister.
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[Aepsilons]

Japan could have been very different.

Instead of the constant economic recessions, Japan could have been a growing economy.

For example, Germany's Volkswagen jumped at the chance to enter the Chinese car market. VW sells about three million cars annually in China.

Reference: 2014 (Full Year) China and Worldwide German Luxury Car Sales

About 15 years ago, the Chinese government invited Toyota to set up a manufacturing plant in China. The Chinese government offered land, electricity, and generous tax breaks. Toyota declined. Today, Toyota is a minor automaker in China (behind VW, GM, Ford, etc.).

Another example is that China and Australia has an FTA. In contrast, Japan is many years away from an FTA with China.

Finally, Japan's leadership is terrible at handling Sino-Japanese relations. China is the world's largest growing economy at about US$1 trillion per year. Yet, Japan's economy is stagnating. This means Japanese leaders are doing a terrible job if they can't benefit from the world's largest growing economy next door.

Japan's leaders usually take an anti-China stance. This is self-defeating. Without Chinese help, the Japanese economy will continue to stay moribund.

However, former Japanese prime minister Hashimoto made a mistake in trying to attain neutrality between China and the United States. He said that he wanted Japan to be equidistant between Beijing and Washington. That will never fly with the Americans.

In conclusion, I am still waiting for a smart Japanese prime minister. This mythical leader would pledge adherence to the Japan-US military alliance within reason and work relentlessly to build economic bridges with China. This is the only road to economic prosperity that I see for Japan. Knowing the Japanese political establishment, I am not holding my breath in waiting for the emergence of a smart Japanese prime minister.
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Interesting thoughts. Just curious, what do you think the Japanese leadership should have done to attain a steady growth for the Nation? Enlighten me on the social , economic and military policies that would spur growth for Dai Nippon.

Japan could have been very different.

Instead of the constant economic recessions, Japan could have been a growing economy.

For example, Germany's Volkswagen jumped at the chance to enter the Chinese car market. VW sells about three million cars annually in China.

Reference: 2014 (Full Year) China and Worldwide German Luxury Car Sales

About 15 years ago, the Chinese government invited Toyota to set up a manufacturing plant in China. The Chinese government offered land, electricity, and generous tax breaks. Toyota declined. Today, Toyota is a minor automaker in China (behind VW, GM, Ford, etc.).

Another example is that China and Australia has an FTA. In contrast, Japan is many years away from an FTA with China.

Finally, Japan's leadership is terrible at handling Sino-Japanese relations. China is the world's largest growing economy at about US$1 trillion per year. Yet, Japan's economy is stagnating. This means Japanese leaders are doing a terrible job if they can't benefit from the world's largest growing economy next door.

Japan's leaders usually take an anti-China stance. This is self-defeating. Without Chinese help, the Japanese economy will continue to stay moribund.

However, former Japanese prime minister Hatoyama made a mistake in trying to attain neutrality between China and the United States. He said that he wanted Japan to be equidistant between Beijing and Washington. That will never fly with the Americans.

In conclusion, I am still waiting for a smart Japanese prime minister. This mythical leader would pledge adherence to the Japan-US military alliance within reason and work relentlessly to build economic bridges with China. This is the only road to economic prosperity that I see for Japan. Knowing the Japanese political establishment, I am not holding my breath in waiting for the emergence of a smart Japanese prime minister.
----------

The problem, my friend, is the issue of Washington state actors and certain Washington based lobby groups that have weaselled it's way inside the inner workings of the Diet.

 

[Martian2]

Interesting thoughts. Just curious, what do you think the Japanese leadership should have done to attain a steady growth for the Nation? Enlighten me on the social , economic and military policies that would spur growth for Dai Nippon.

1. Strict laws for gender equality. Japan loses half of its population with its discrimination against women. Japan has no women CEOs, prominent scientists, or business owners. China has plenty of women billionaires. An unfair Japanese society sends a message to all Japanese women that there is a very low glass ceiling. The talents of Japanese women are wasted.

2. Destroy the tradition of seniority. Performance has to be based on merit, regardless of age. In China, the head of the Yutu lunar program is in his 30s. AVIC's CEO was in his 40s.

3. Japanese are too conformists. In Taiwan, people throw shoes and eggs at the president of Taiwan (e.g. Ma Ying-jeou). In Japan, a security law was enacted against journalists. Taiwan is a truly free society. Japan is not. This is important for the emergence of new ideas. Taiwan's TSMC and MediaTek are all relatively new companies (established within the last 30 years). Yet, Taiwanese companies have grown into giants with billion-dollar net profits. Today's global economy requires free-thinkers to prosper.

 

[Aepsilons]

1. Strict laws for gender equality. Japan loses half of its population with its discrimination against women. Japan has no women CEOs, prominent scientists, or business owners. China has plenty of women billionaires. An unfair Japanese society sends a message to all Japanese women that there is a very low glass ceiling. The talents of Japanese women are wasted.

2. Destroy the tradition of seniority. Performance has to be based on merit, regardless of age. In China, the head of the Yutu lunar program is in his 30s. AVIC's CEO was in his 40s.

3. Japanese are too conformists. In Taiwan, people throw shoes and eggs at the president of Taiwan (ie. Ma Ying Jeou). In Japan, a security law was enacted against journalists. Taiwan is a truly free society. Japan is not.

How revolutionary! I agree with your points, the problem my friend is the stubborn nature of the Japanese mindset, stubborn to a flaw, and too rigid on outdated thinking.

I would like it if Japan and Taiwan would do civil servant exchanges as we could learn a lot from Taiwanese civil society and political economy.

 

[TaiShang]

The problem, my friend, is the issue of Washington state actors and certain Washington based lobby groups that have weaselled it's way inside the inner workings of the Diet.

How do you propose to solve this problem? Maybe a popular nativist movement -- not necessarily socialist/leftist because that would have slim chance of mass approval, frankly. But a nativist (returning to normalcy) movement would resonate well across Japanese society.

Other than the government, I also see the problem with the business and media of Japan. Especially the media is being compromised by US agent provocateurs that constantly funnel anti-China propaganda.

How revolutionary! I agree with your points, the problem my friend is the stubborn nature of the Japanese mindset, stubborn to a flaw, and too rigid on outdated thinking.

I would like it if Japan and Taiwan would do civil servant exchanges as we could learn a lot from Taiwanese civil society and political economy.

But it is not just Taiwan. Taiwan's domestic politics also feels increasingly stuffed/suffocated. But Taiwan was smart to ride on the success of the Mainland, by adhering to the red lines drawn by Beijing. Otherwise, there was no chance under the sun that Taiwan would be at where it is today.

So, it then comes down to the management of the Northeast Asian regional affairs.

Of course, the social policies mentioned by Martian would be instrumental, but nonetheless, a certain dose of national identity and way of doing things, in my opinion, must always be maintained.

 

[Aepsilons]

How do you propose to solve this problem? Maybe a popular nativist movement -- not necessarily socialist/leftist because that would have slim chance of mass approval, frankly. But a nativist (returning to normalcy) movement would resonate well across Japanese society.

Other than the government, I also see the problem with the business and media of Japan. Especially the media is being compromised by US agent provocateurs that constantly funnel anti-China propaganda.



But it is not just Taiwan. Taiwan's domestic politics also feels increasingly stuffed/suffocated. But Taiwan was smart to ride on the success of the Mainland, by adhering to the red lines drawn by Beijing. Otherwise, there was no chance under the sun that Taiwan would be at where it is today.

So, it then comes down to the management of the Northeast Asian regional affairs.

Of course, the social policies mentioned by Martian would be instrumental, but nonetheless, a certain dose of national identity and way of doing things, in my opinion, must always be maintained.

I will respond to this tomorrow. So much to say...

 

[Economic superpower]

No one can revive Japan. Japan has had a dead economy for 25 years. Japan never utilised the economic growth of China due to its jealousy and hatred of China.

Japan will just become irrelevant as the years go by. Sure, it will make some noise being an annoyance to China at the orders from the US, but that's about it.

Japanese leaders care more about visiting the Yasukuni war shrine than reviving their economy.

 

[oprih]

Abe-san is a blessing to japan. Abe-san needs to rule longer.

 

[XiaoYaoZi]

How can Economist badmouth Japan. Japanese should buy Economist, then they can ask the editors of Economist to goodmouth Japan and badmouth China just like they did to FT.

 

[TaiShang]

How can Economist badmouth Japan. Japanese should buy Economist, then they can ask the editors of Economist to goodmouth Japan and badmouth China just like they did to FT.

FT is owned by Japan? Did not know it.

 

[Economic superpower]

FT is owned by Japan? Did not know it.

Wasn't there some news a few months back about Japan buying the Economist?

 

[Aepsilons]

FT is owned by Japan? Did not know it.

This is news for me, lol.

Wasn't there some news a few months back about Japan buying the Economist?

Perhaps having shares ? I doubt that the entire company was purchased...