I think that all of this agreement about the cause of the Japanese depression.
Japan used macroeconomic policies to prop the economy up in the wake of the oil
shocks, leading to rapid accumulation and a wild run-up in land prices.
Finally the overhang caught up with Japan.
I would like to add
At 02:00 PM 3/24/00 -0500, you wrote:
I said I thought Japan looked to be in the throes of a classic
overaccumulation/profitability crisis. For decades, state policy and the
financial/governance structure permitted firms to invest to gain market
share without paying much attention to ROI. Now
Doug is suggesting that the problem _might_ be solved the good old Maggie
Thatcher or Attila the Hun way, imposing a shake-out that drives out the
weakling capitalists and imposing wage cuts, deunionization, etc. on the
working class. This would raise the rate of profit and eventually
the insanity of a crisis of overproduction. The Japanese
are not starving and, with all their foreign asset
holdings, have a few more cards to play in the
international economy. So why should they worry
that their balance sheets look grim by US accounting
standards?
The Washington Post,
I just saw Louis's report. Yes, Japan now is starting some mass layoffs, but
it is amazing how long they have put this off. The U.S. in 1929 tried to
pressure firms to resist layoffs. Many large firms resisted about a year.
Louis Proyect wrote:
The Washington Post, January 3, 2000,
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