6 ms·

It's funny that we call it the lost decade but it is now really a lost quarter century.

fspeech 11y ago
https://www.google.com/search?q=japan+per+capita+income&oq=japan+per+c&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l2.9341j1j4&client=tablet-android-acer&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8 https://www.google.com/search?q=japan+per+capita+income&oq=j... From 1990 to 2013 Japan's per capita income actually doubled, translating into over 3% growth per annum.
- emodendroket 11y ago
  That money has been pretty unevenly distributed, to say the least.
  - fspeech 11y ago
    Japan is actually one of the more egalitarian countries in the world as well: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_...
    - emodendroket 11y ago
      Well, I'm not really sure what to make of that, but this is a pretty common claim in both US and Japanese sources; here's an example: http://theweek.com/articles/453219/everything-need-know-about-japans-population-crisis http://theweek.com/articles/453219/everything-need-know-abou... > Why aren't they getting married? > There are both cultural and economic barriers. In Japanese tradition, marriage was more about duty than romantic love. Arranged marriages were the norm well into the 1970s, and even into the 1990s most marriages were facilitated by "go-betweens," often the grooms' bosses. Left to their own devices, Japanese men aren't sure how to find wives — and many are shying away from the hunt, because they simply can't afford it. Wages have stagnated since the 1990s, while housing prices have shot up. A young Japanese man has good reason to believe that his standard of living would drop immensely if he had to house and support a wife and children — especially considering that his wife likely wouldn't be working.
      - fspeech 11y ago
        Japan has had deflation so even a stagnating wage translates into a rising standard of living. That said, Japan has a generational gap whereby the younger people face worse challenges, but that is different from what is typically understood as income inequalities.
        emodendroket 11y ago
        Well, be that as it may, the challenges of young people were what I meant to allude to with the top comment.
- josephlord 11y ago
  This chart tells a very different story. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/gdp-growth http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/gdp-growth Japan has been suffering from low inflation and at times deflation. This means that debts do not shrink with inflation. I think the stockmarket and property markets have been pretty flat too over the period. What growth there has been has been assisted by "extraordinary" (well they were before 2008) monetary measures and growth in government debt to 230% of GDP.
  - fspeech 11y ago
    Japan's working age population peaked in the 80s https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_of_Japan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_of_Japan so I don't know why anyone should expect robust aggregate growth, considering that it has been a maturely developed economy for decades.

https://www.google.com/search?q=japan+per+capita+income&oq=japan+per+c&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l2.9341j1j4&client=tablet-android-acer&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8 https://www.google.com/search?q=japan+per+capita+income&oq=j... From 1990 to 2013 Japan's per capita income actually doubled, translating into over 3% growth per annum.

emodendroket 11y ago
That money has been pretty unevenly distributed, to say the least.
- fspeech 11y ago
  Japan is actually one of the more egalitarian countries in the world as well: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_equality https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_...
  - emodendroket 11y ago
    Well, I'm not really sure what to make of that, but this is a pretty common claim in both US and Japanese sources; here's an example: http://theweek.com/articles/453219/everything-need-know-about-japans-population-crisis http://theweek.com/articles/453219/everything-need-know-abou... > Why aren't they getting married? > There are both cultural and economic barriers. In Japanese tradition, marriage was more about duty than romantic love. Arranged marriages were the norm well into the 1970s, and even into the 1990s most marriages were facilitated by "go-betweens," often the grooms' bosses. Left to their own devices, Japanese men aren't sure how to find wives — and many are shying away from the hunt, because they simply can't afford it. Wages have stagnated since the 1990s, while housing prices have shot up. A young Japanese man has good reason to believe that his standard of living would drop immensely if he had to house and support a wife and children — especially considering that his wife likely wouldn't be working.
    - fspeech 11y ago
      Japan has had deflation so even a stagnating wage translates into a rising standard of living. That said, Japan has a generational gap whereby the younger people face worse challenges, but that is different from what is typically understood as income inequalities.
      - emodendroket 11y ago
        Well, be that as it may, the challenges of young people were what I meant to allude to with the top comment.
josephlord 11y ago
This chart tells a very different story. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/gdp-growth http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/gdp-growth Japan has been suffering from low inflation and at times deflation. This means that debts do not shrink with inflation. I think the stockmarket and property markets have been pretty flat too over the period. What growth there has been has been assisted by "extraordinary" (well they were before 2008) monetary measures and growth in government debt to 230% of GDP.
- fspeech 11y ago
  Japan's working age population peaked in the 80s https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_of_Japan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_of_Japan so I don't know why anyone should expect robust aggregate growth, considering that it has been a maturely developed economy for decades.