— More of the “You think it’s bad here…” Japan was late to this party, but they’ve caught up in a big way. To stretch the metaphor, they pre-partied by themselves for a long time before coming out to join the rest of us.
Japan is the poster child for how not to do things. To the Keynesians, Japan didn’t spend enough fast enough. The correct course of action is to spend recklessly enough to make people fear inflation and to pick up consumption. Then the bill can be paid over time in the resulting good times. To the Austrians, Japan continued to throw good money after bad trying to delay the inevitable. When the inevitable finally came, it carried the costs of every failed attempt to fix the problem. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
