Recession With A Hint of Sushi

Unlike the events in my dreams, no Japanese Samurai will kill the CEO of Ford

The economy of Japan is the second largest in the world with 4.5 Trillion dollars in GDP but it also is very sick. What Japan went through in the 1990s is what might happen to the United States if it doesn't help large banks balance its balance sheets.

The economy of Japan is still a living, breathing miracle. The entire island country was either burned, atomized or blown up to bits during the Second World War. The Americans, realizing that a weak Japan might fall to communism start pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into their economy. During the early 50s the Korean War also added to those millions that poured into Japan. Close to what happened to Thailand and other democratic South East Asian countries during Vietnam. The Japanese government directed what industries should create the most money for the economy and soon Japan was out of that post-war funk. Heavy industries were created, tarrifs were raised against non-Japanese made industrial products like tvs, the infrastructure of the nation was also built from the ground up to.

I almost forgot to mention the high educational standards the Japanese go through. A highly educated, skilled population made Japan rich creating information, financial and service industries increasingly dominant. From the 60s to the 80s the US feared Japanese economic domination. It was as if the novel Frankenstein was acted out on an economic basis.. and then... it happened.

1989, the Japanese stock exchange the Nikkei hit an all time high of close to 39,000 points. Banks began giving out risky loans to people, investments went increasingly overseases, property values were overestimated and a credit crisis just like the one in the US ensued. During the 1990s, the Nikkei kept falling and falling. Interest rates were cut yet the fundamental problems remained. Only in 2003 did the Nikkei start going up again.

Could this happen to the US? Yes, it could. The 700 billion dollar stimulus package isn't helping those who need it the most. The banks. Californian beer companies and North Carolina tobacco farmers are getting the money. If the banks can't get the money they need to allow credit to start flowing again, you might as well extend your hand to shake recession. The thing which will definately tick me off the most is if those 3 auto losers : GM, Ford and Chrysler get any money. They do not deserve it. If we pay them out, we might as well prepare to pay out 1000 other large companies in the US. They'll start crying out for helping because we've only been curing the symptoms and not the disease. Let's get credit flowing again. For God sakes, help the greedy out!