Quality of life? Japan's poverty level is at record highs.[0]

"Bookshops advertise a slew of bestsellers on how to survive on an annual income of under ¥2m ($16,700), a poverty line below which millions of Japanese now live."

[0]http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21647676-poverty-worsens-...

The thing about this is that national poverty statistics don't tell the whole story. They just offer a rough summary.

Things really are different in Japan, even in the impoverished parts. From the same Economist article: "The country has long prided itself on ensuring that none of its citizens falls between the social cracks. Japan’s orderly, slum-free neighbourhoods seem to confirm that. Street crime, even in Kotobuki, is minuscule. Unemployment is below 4% ... "

Compare that to the "choice parts" of downtown Los Angeles or the Tenderloin in SF. Despite many decades of fighting poverty, many many people still fall through the holes in the US social safety nets.

Japan also builds better cars.

This hits the nail on the head. As a US citizen who has lived in the US for 32 years, I'd rather live in poverty in Japan than middle class in LA, SF, or NYC.

That's a little short sighted dont you think?

How so? Japan's been trying for decades to stoke growth, is unable to, and has (IMHO) a pretty high standard of living. Correct me? Abenomics is fairly recent, but you can't create demand in a country with a declining population.

EDIT: Stop optimizing for GDP. Optimize for quality of life.

This works in the short run, but the Japanese have been in an economic hole for a long time. They are printing money to keep assets afloat, but this wont work forever and they know it. The whole thing is fake, and fake doenst last forever.

It's lasted what, 20 years so far? You say it won't work forever; we can't just reproduce ourselves out of the problem (by encouraging policies the promote couples to have more children).

At some point, we will decide growth is over and isn't coming back. It feels like we're close to that point. And good! You can have a great quality of life without neverending growth.