Japan a bug that will not escape the windshield
Enjoying the good weather? Feelin’ groovy? Getting ready for summer? Like MarketingJapan, checking out great new places to eat? As Mike has clearly fumbled the ball on this one, I’ll have to pick it up (well somebody’s gotta!) Summer may be cancelled. Japan is a bug in search of a windshield!!! Are you prepared? Are [...]
U.S. Tax Burden: 40 Million Government Workers. Is Japan better off?
Study says US government employs 40 million. Too little, just right, or top-heavy? How about in Japan?
Japan Posts Record Trade Deficit in January, 4th Consecutive Deficit Month
In today’s post, Mish gives (yet another) warning about Japan’s unsustainable economic road, and makes a good suggestion (my emphasis) At some point, I suggest now, Japan needs to stop blaming the earthquake and tsunami for its collapse in exports. Furthermore, Japan is going to have difficulty financing its debt unless its turns the situation [...]
Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis: Premature Dollar Obituaries and Mainstream Economists’ Monetary Insanity; Keynes-Inspired Great Depression; Lessons Not Learned
One might have thought the Monetarists and Keynesians would have learned something from Japan. Instead, and in spite of debt to the tune of 230% of GDP, they came to the amazing conclusion “Japan did not do enough”. Two Rules There is never enough debt to satisfy Keynesians. There is never enough fiat currency to [...]
‘Fool in the Shower’ to Give Fed a Scalding: Caroline Baum – Bloomberg
Learned of Milton Friedman’s evocative image, “the fool in the shower” in this article, which Mish links to. I’ve underlined the truly astonishing part, for my busy readers’ benefit (don’t mention it!). You may need to read it twice (or ten times) to check you read it correctly the first time. Talk about double-take! What [...]
“There has been so much orchestrated ‘good news’ that the bottom is probably about to fall out of the market.”
Quote of the day, from “Mish“. First, Mish quotes this article about China refusing to help the IMF bail out Europe. The IMF is proposing an expansion of its lending resources to safeguard the global economy against any worsening of Europe’s debt crisis, according to an official at a Group of 20 nation. The lender [...]
Welcome to 2012! And $7.6T Debt Mountain!!
Update: scroll down to see a nice graph Welcome to 2012, and a planet-load of debt! From Bloomberg, via Mish: Governments of the world’s leading economies have more than $7.6 trillion of debt maturing this year, with most facing a rise in borrowing costs.Led by Japan’s $3 trillion and the U.S.’s $2.8 trillion, the amount [...]
A peak into Japan’s future?
A peak into the future for Japan? Some people think that “deficits don’t matter” as Dick Cheney said in 2000, and the Washington Post reminded readers in 2004. If you believe that, there is no need to read what follows. The tax hikes are quite massive : apart the tax on house ownership which was [...]
“All hell could break loose”
Here is the key: If Japan does not maintain a trade surplus covering both interest on its national debt and bond redemptions, all hell will break loose. This gives rise to the question as to how long Japan’s vaunted export machine can remain intact. I do not have the answer to that question, but China [...]
German video with English subtitles – reporter gets thrown out of EU building for asking questions!
In a former life, I studied German, but it’s now a little rusty, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this recent, interesting video in German with helpful English subtitles. It seems to be some boring story about a TV reporter getting thrown out of the EU parliament building for being rude and impertinent to [...]
