I think this "lost decade" talk is mostly a matter of perspective, Japan is the nation in the world that, of any I can think of, could most afford to "lose a de

I think this "lost decade" talk is mostly a matter of perspective, Japan is the nation in the world that, of any I can think of, could most afford to "lose a decade". An older population, a shrinking population, and a very high savings rate means that deflation was not as hard on its economy as it would be on an economy like the United States. In the US and many other economies inflation helps consumers with their debt, population growth requires that the overall GDP grow significantly to keep pace, and a younger population means many young people need meaningful work to sustain themselves while an older population can live on savings and supplement with poorly-paid employment to hobble through to retirement. Some of the arguments may also be unfair: The author breaks down GDP on a per capita basis to make the argument that Japan might have grown faster than the United States since 1989 - but Japan is 2 decades our from their financial collapse and the US only some 4 years after a similar event. Unemployment in Japan has always been much lower than the US, so comparing them now as some sort of evidence regarding a "lost decade" is not meaningful. It may also be that, since the population is shrinking, the life-expectancy gains are more of a collection of a dividend from past public health improvements than any reflection of recent health care system improvements. (I.e. all those old people living longer from better care in the past vs. relatively younger people dying from other causes to lower the average.)