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,
Barney writes:
... the question is, does anyone still hoard? There are plenty
of virtually risk free, short term financial instruments. The municipal
bond market seems pretty damn liquid these days. And for those of us of
more modest means, there are interest bearing checking
accounts.
Keynes called this situation a liquidity trap and felt this
was a good argument for fiscal policy and government
investment programs. Unlike private firms, the federal
government can finance long-term projects with short-term
debt.
Ellen
How do you think the situation in Japan reflects
How do you think the situation in Japan reflects on Keynes' theory? Is it a
Well, Doug said that Japan confirms Marx rather than Keynes. I am not
exactly sure whether a protracted slump is a confirmation of Marx, while a
protracted expansion such as the one taking place in the USA is proof that
Well, Doug said that Japan confirms Marx rather than Keynes.
I didn't catch this. Doug, would you repost your comments?
Isn't there something more fundamental going on, namely
competition between nations based on the production of automobiles,
computers, and capital goods such as machine
Financial Times (London)
February 29, 2000, Tuesday Surveys FTA1
HEADLINE: SURVEY - FT AUTO: Difficult times as the going gets tougher:
JAPAN KOREA
by Alexandra Harney and John Burton: The car manufacturers in both
countries continue to feel the pinch with rationalisation on the cards
I think that we could say that Keynes was right as far as he went. Japan is
probably is good example of a liquidity trap as you can get.
The problem is that Keynes didn't go very far. The liquidity trap is fairly
reflection of the psychological state of investors. Unfortunately, he does not
I don't really understand the situation in Japan, but
I found the article in the most recent New Left Review
by Taggart very interesting. Bill Tabb wrote a very illuminating
piece on Japan for Dollars and Sense last year, as
well. Taggart argued (I think) that the analytical categories
of
Title: Re: [PEN-L:17381] Re: Re: Re: Re: ? Rentier's hoarding ?
Re the relevance of Keynes's idea of the liquidity trap for an analysis of the current situation in Japan.
For reaons Keynes himself gives, the functioning of psychological factors in Japan is likely to differ in important ways
From "Capitalism in Asia at the End of the Millennium" by Prabhat Patnaik
July-August 1999 Monthly Review
http://www.monthlyreview.org/799pat.htm
The crisis in East and Southeast Asia is superimposed, however, on a deeper
phenomenon-the fact that the high growth rates once enjoyed by several
Christian writes:
There are also significant risks to this strategy, if taken seriously. If
such "restructuring" were to provoke a more general banking / financial
system crisis, Japanese would dump all those dollars, bonds, and
dollar-denominated assets that it holds, which could spell the end
Ellen Frank wrote:
... rentiers hoarding funds and businesses looking
to expand.
I don't remember this bit. Why would rentiers
want to hoard?
--
Barnet Wagman
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ellen,
Iam properly chastised. Now, the question is,
does anyone still hoard? There are plenty of
virtually risk free, short term financial instruments.
The municipal bond market seems pretty damn
liquid these days. And for those of us of more
modest means, there are interest bearing checking
Barney writes:
... the question is, does anyone still hoard? There are plenty
of virtually risk free, short term financial instruments. The municipal
bond market seems pretty damn liquid these days. And for those of us of
more modest means, there are interest bearing checking
accounts.
I'd say that instead of hoarding, what can happen today is that the
illiquidity premium goes up (relative to cash), so that the illiquid assets
have to pay more for tying up one's assets (as people get wary about
capital losses on such assets). In this case, most people's portfolios
would
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