Japan, Refutation of Neoliberalism

Re:Japan, Refutation of Neoliberalism by hga on Saturday January 09, 2010 @08:45AM (#1041450)

A country where so many of the young (in this case, into their 30s) can't:

  Get full time long term work.

  Afford their own dwelling.

  Afford to get married.

Isn't "thriving". A county where the birthrate is the lowest in the world, where it's been lower than the death rate since 2006, is dying, not "thriving". By the end of the next century there won't be any Japanese left if the current trends continue, and I've read that no society with it's "lowest-low" birthrate has ever recovered....

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Re:Japan, Refutation of Neoliberalism by docomo on Saturday January 09, 2010 @10:35AM (#1041547)

Good point, but this is in the context of a country that is extremely densely populated. A controlled decrease of the population may be beneficial. I have a feeling that the Japanese elite are well aware of the danger and may be able to remedy the situation before it gets out of hand.

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Re:Japan, Refutation of Neoliberalism by hga on Saturday January 09, 2010 @10:44AM (#1041553)

Given the demographics, specifically the need to support such a large retired population, it doesn't make sense to do that on purpose.

If the items I pointed out are a significant part of the cause, it's going to be very hard to reverse, since they've been trying to turn around their economy for a couple of decades without success (we now realize the recovery a few years ago was just another artifact of the world wide credit bubble).

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Re:Japan, Refutation of Neoliberalism by sailormoon on Saturday January 09, 2010 @12:13PM (#1041638)

I have a feeling that the Japanese elite are well aware

I share this feeling, and suspect that is why cigarettes continue to be 320Y...

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