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These companies became household names during a period of incredible economic growth in Japan (60s - 80's). But economic growth at that level is not sustainable
by greydius 10y ago
These companies became household names during a period of incredible economic growth in Japan (60s - 80's). But economic growth at that level is not sustainable (as China is finding out), and the country went into a recession in the 90's. Japan is still one of the wealthiest and most productive nations in the world, but the borrowing to fuel its growth has caught up, and it now has one of the largest debt-to-gdp ratios.
- lgieron 10y ago> but the borrowing to fuel its growth has caught up, From what I've read, the Japanese public debt is mostly domestic, so it wasn't actually foreign money that was fueling the growth.
- jazzyk 10y agoYes, it is domestic (retirement savings) - but it is still debt and will need to be repaid. Due to Japan's demographics, pretty soon.
- lgieron 10y agoThat's true, but at least it shows that people in Japan have enormous amounts of saved capital (if they could finance all that debt).
- jazzyk 10y agoCapital, which the government is trying to diminish by desperately printing money and forcing zero- or negative- interest rates to inflate the debt.