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Nikkei Tanking
- Thread starter chasinfla
- Start date
"Doesn't Hari Kari come before personal bankruptcy in Japan?"
not literally of course, but you get the point. "Zombie companies" is the phrase du jour, they won't let anybody go bankrupt. The zombies suck up investment that should be going to smaller growing companies. Personal bankruptcy is also unheard of, but the japs have always been huge savers and not into debt except for real estate.
not literally of course, but you get the point. "Zombie companies" is the phrase du jour, they won't let anybody go bankrupt. The zombies suck up investment that should be going to smaller growing companies. Personal bankruptcy is also unheard of, but the japs have always been huge savers and not into debt except for real estate.
Quote from billb2112:
Any idea what the unemployment figures and personal bankruptcy numbers are in Japan?
unemployment's about 5%-5.5%
i don't have any personal bankruptcy numbers, but they are big savers (very much unlike the credit card zombies in the US) so i'd be surprised if it was very high, or much worse than its historical norms..
(then again, the percentage of self employed in japan is a lot higher too, so a bad economy would obviously have implications there..)
i would tend to agree with you 'nut.
real gdp growth over the last 10 years has been pretty minimal, but they still have pretty full employment and strong savings, so they're still living pretty damn well.
(probably a lot better than americans would be if the US went through a similar period)
real gdp growth over the last 10 years has been pretty minimal, but they still have pretty full employment and strong savings, so they're still living pretty damn well.
(probably a lot better than americans would be if the US went through a similar period)
(probably a lot better than americans would be if the US went through a similar period) [/B][/QUOTE]
Thats what I read somewhere.
By the way I never really understand about the so called growth.
why is growth that just manage to keepup with population not good enough?
Why does it have to be bigger. Or is that a spin the Wall Street boys threw in in order to get more people to give them their hard earned cash?
Same as when they said that a companie that paied dividend was actually a bad investment.
Thats what I read somewhere.
By the way I never really understand about the so called growth.
why is growth that just manage to keepup with population not good enough?
Why does it have to be bigger. Or is that a spin the Wall Street boys threw in in order to get more people to give them their hard earned cash?
Same as when they said that a companie that paied dividend was actually a bad investment.
real growth in excess of population growth means the chance for a higher standard of living.
Quote from daniel_m:
i would tend to agree with you 'nut.
real gdp growth over the last 10 years has been pretty minimal, but they still have pretty full employment and strong savings, so they're still living pretty damn well.
(probably a lot better than americans would be if the US went through a similar period)
Actually, that's all a misconception.
During the Internet Bubble, Fidelity Funds tried to move into Japan attracted to the high savings rate data from Japanese Banks.
When they actually moved in, they found that the savings wasn't high at all. They had to cut a lot the employees in Japan to cover the misconception. There's a lot of factors to that.
1. The Japanese are skeptical when it comes to investment. The market regulation in Japan is very loose and loosely regulated that there is too much bad reputations about firms. If you think churning in the US is bad, take a look at Japanese Churns. One line they use in the calls are, "Sir, this is a great investment. It'll make money... As a matter of fact, it's so good, I bought it for you already..." You don't hear that in the US. Even if you goto the SEC or CFTC in Japan, they do nothing...
2. Japanese are cash basis. The credit card system in Japan is different. Usually, the credit limit for a "real platinum" card only goes to $15,000. The system is also a Semi-protected credit card. The credit company doesn't like to risk their own capital so much for fees. Practically, the "credit" doesn't become better. One reason is because of skeptism of credit card fraud. The value of cash is culturally more heavier for a Japanese than an American in general terms.
The banks are getting together, the interest rates are so low that after the account maintenance fee, you're not making money. Even worse is that the there are a lot banks are under freeze and money isn't flowing to allowing the banks to make money. They have a big distrust in institutions that everyone is holding cash and protecting it in anyway.
In the US, the financial stability is largely based on good credit. Like, when you buy a car or rent/buy a house, even borrowing money from the bank, they check your credit. But in Japan, they check your bank account and cash flow. Also, another major difference is they check the college you graduated and the company you work for. If you work in a well known large company (Corporate Japan), it means you are stable. Different mind set. Entrepreneurism has a large downfall in Japan. But one way is to have a sponsor that works in a high post in Corporate Japan.
4. Unemployment is high in Japan, the government issued numbers are largely deferred. One of the reason is in the US, they count the number of people who visited the umemployment agency. It's the same in Japan but the unemplyment office in Japan is open twice a month and very limited number of offices. Also, the consequence is larger. In the US, if you lose a job, you can find something else but in Japan, once you drop out of the corporate ladder, you're over. You can't go out to find a equivalent position, unless some company headhunts you out.
Changing jobs for any reason is taken as a lack of commitment like in the time of the feudal system where when your master dies, you die with him mentality.
4. There is close to none national patriotism in Japan. This is largely due to the post-WW2 education system the US employed to change our cycle of old fuedal like system. Though, the system itself lives through the corporate system. Japanese are very committing beings. They need to find things to committ or it seems like they are wasting they're life. The culture is very extremity minded.
The concept of Zen and other great philosophy comes from there also. There's a good Zen saying that explains the deep desire of a Japanese, "When you reach an extreme of one side, then you've reach the balance point of both sides." (Imagine a circle)
The point is that there are a lot cultural and situational differences compared to the US. Looking at numbers just like you look at the numbers here in the US will cause you to miss a lot of what's happening in real life.
Just a little tip.
I appreciate the insight into the Japanese culture. I was hoping to look into a crystal ball and maybe get a feel for what happens when the market goes from 36K to 8K (as it might pertain to to the US). It's been a slow bleed for Japan and maybe that's why you don't hear about folks in Japan jumping out of windows (actually, haven't some been known to do that if they get fired from their jobs?).