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Why Japan Is Doomed

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Re: Why Japan Is Doomed

#41

Post by potatolicious »

minouye wrote: post #32
potatolicious wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh bullshit - I'm surprised you got as many upvotes given that this is supposed to be the entrepreneurial bunch (and our previous mega-thread involving Scott the useless college grad). Boo hoo, so the economic sucks and you were lied to your whole life about how your employment situation was going to work. So? This does not excuse laziness and a crappy work ethic. Perhaps their chronic unemployment stems from the fac…

If you are implying that the opportunities in Japan are equal to those available in the US, then I wholeheartedly disagree. Both in terms of startup culture or slogging through a corporate job, Japan is vastly different from the US. Opportunities exist everywhere, and a poor economy is certainly no excuse for apathy. However, discounting the challenges the economy posed to the rising generation of Japanese is pretty…

I did not mean to make light of Japan's economic challenges in the past two decades - nor do I mean to imply that Japanese opportunities are equal to that of the US.

What I mean is, Japan is still an industrial power, and far from a decrepit backwater - while opportunities were not what they once were, they are still there for those who seek it.

If anything, a shitty economy and hard times should create people who fight harder and take less bullshit, not the other way around as the poster had indicated.

Re: Why Japan Is Doomed

#42

Post by icarus_drowning »

stretchwithme wrote: post #33

We're borrowing 43% of our budget? Talk about unsustainable. I would seriously make plans for when the US is forced to stop this destructive pattern. Its going to be ugly.

I can't see how it won't end up looking like a massive cut in entitlement spending, probably along the lines of Paul Ryan's most recent doomed proposal:

http://www.roadmap.republicans.budget.house.gov/

This isn't to cheerlead Republican strategies (after all, I think the heart of Ryan's proposal is decidedly anti-Republican, since Republicans and Democrats alike seem to have based their party orthodoxy on not cutting spending, be that in the form of tax cuts or increased entitlements, respectively), merely to offer an example of the kind of cutting that will, but necessity, have to happen.

Of course, there's always the "collapse of the US" scenario.

Optimists, therefore, will prepare for the painful years of budget-cutting by refusing to rely on entitlements in their later years.

Pessimists? Well, I suppose joining a survivalist encampment doesn't sound that bad...

Re: Why Japan Is Doomed

#43

Post by nedrichards »

startuprules wrote: post #15
incomethax wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It looks a lot like how Greece was looking a few weeks back. (Probably still is looking in all likely-hood) Most of the national debt is written off, public services are cut or re-financed through printing money which has the nasty side effect of inflation and then eventually hyperinflation. Here's some examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation#Examples_of_hype...

Anybody with personal accounts from Iceland?

Yes. And since I lived in the UK my government impounded Icelandic owned assets up to their value[1] to pay me back my money. Yay for international relations!

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businesslatestnews/318519...

Re: Why Japan Is Doomed

#44

Post by bpyne »

noodle wrote: post #30
potatolicious wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh bullshit - I'm surprised you got as many upvotes given that this is supposed to be the entrepreneurial bunch (and our previous mega-thread involving Scott the useless college grad). Boo hoo, so the economic sucks and you were lied to your whole life about how your employment situation was going to work. So? This does not excuse laziness and a crappy work ethic. Perhaps their chronic unemployment stems from the fac…

what is the expected outcome if someone fights hard for years and sees no success? is it never justified for someone to fight hard, see they're not getting anywhere, and then drop their effort level down to match the situation they're in, permanently or temporarily?

This hopelessness shows up in the US as well. It's the people who fall off the unemployment stats and have given up looking for work. Another group of people stay on government assistance because they realize that paying for daycare, rent, etc. would add up to more than they make. So, they live off government assistance as long as possible.

Re: Why Japan Is Doomed

#45

Post by jpcx01 »

stretchwithme wrote: post #33

We're borrowing 43% of our budget? Talk about unsustainable. I would seriously make plans for when the US is forced to stop this destructive pattern. Its going to be ugly.

Don't worry about it. Krugman says deficits are ok.

Re: Why Japan Is Doomed

#47

Post by patio11 »

startuprules wrote: post #4

"Millions of Japanese aged 25 to 34 toil as temps or contract employees-- up from 1.5 million 10 years ago, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. These workers tend to earn about one-third the typical "salaryman" wages that their fathers earned" I lived in Tokyo last year in a cheap apartment with alot of young Japanese people, and I was very surprised by their lack of work ethic/prospect from my first time…

That is a social phenomenon alright, but freeters are not coextensive with Japanese youth. Japanese companies offering part-time employment frequently offer it on a day-labor basis: you do your day, you get your money, and you and the company are even. The employment relationship is as durable as those struck up with the gentlemen standing outside your local Home Depot in the United States. There are cell phone websites where you can browse jobs and be doing mind-numbing greeter-style work within 20 minutes.

You'd find very, very different professional norms if you either hung around my salaryman buddies or hung around young ladies of my acquaintance who are on the "pink-collar" track.

Re: Why Japan Is Doomed

#48

Post by mortenjorck »

startuprules wrote: post #22
umjames wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So how are new companies created in Japan? Doesn't someone have to stick their neck out and be an entrepreneur? You would think that if some of these young Japanese people started companies and hired some of their contemporaries, you could get around that societal disapproval. I don't think any society would mind having companies that brought them wealth and employment.

For Japan, it's all about 'tradition'. So society/entranched interests resist changes heavily. For example, the entrepreneur who started 1000-yen haircut chain in Japan (severely undercutting the barbershops) used to get death threats on his life, and had to fight tooth and nail to get spaces in shopping centers. You should see the blank stare I get, when they ask me about how to be successful in life (I'm a bit olde…

I'm not particularly familiar with modern Japanese history, but wasn't the culture more amenable to entrepreneurialism in the postwar years?

Re: Why Japan Is Doomed

#49

Post by brianobush »

d2viant wrote: post #23

The part I don't understand is why Japanese citizens would accept such low returns on their investment for so many years, when so many investments outside of Japanese government debt would give them higher yields. Is it a cultural thing? Is it just pure altruism? Do they want to support their government that much that they're willing to ignore better investments for their savings?

I think they are used to banks giving them next to nothing on interest for their savings.

Re: Why Japan Is Doomed

#50

Post by [deleted] »

mortenjorck wrote: post #48
startuprules wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Japan, it's all about 'tradition'. So society/entranched interests resist changes heavily. For example, the entrepreneur who started 1000-yen haircut chain in Japan (severely undercutting the barbershops) used to get death threats on his life, and had to fight tooth and nail to get spaces in shopping centers. You should see the blank stare I get, when they ask me about how to be successful in life (I'm a bit olde…

I'm not particularly familiar with modern Japanese history, but wasn't the culture more amenable to entrepreneurialism in the postwar years?

[deleted]
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