For two decades, the Japanese economy has been dead as a doornail – in spite of hefty Japanese consumer savings. Why?

Field Reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief?
Sheriff McClelland: Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up.
– Night of the Living Dead (1968)

In B-grade horror movie lore, Tokyo has to fend off attacks from rampaging monsters like Mothra and Godzilla. If the cinema were more true-to-life, however, Japan would be less worried about overgrown fire-breathing lizards… and more terrified of zombies instead.

In response to a recent Taipan Daily asking what brought us out of the Great Depression, a number of you responded with a good question. “What about Japan?” Or rather, “What about Japan’s extraordinary rate of consumer savings – and why hasn’t it helped?”

After putting in a massive blowoff top to cap a truly insane 1980s bull market, Japanese stocks proceeded to head lower… for the next twenty years. The Nikkei is …

For two decades, the Japanese economy has been dead as a doornail – in spite of hefty Japanese consumer savings. Why?

Field Reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief? Sheriff McClelland: Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up. – Night of the Living Dead (1968)

In B-grade horror movie lore, Tokyo has to fend off attacks from rampaging monsters like Mothra and Godzilla. If the cinema were more true-to-life, however, Japan would be less worried about overgrown fire-breathing lizards… and more terrified of zombies instead.

In response to a recent Taipan Daily asking what brought us out of the Great Depression, a number of you responded with a good question. “What about Japan?” Or rather, “What about Japan’s extraordinary rate of consumer savings – and why hasn’t it helped?”

Deflation takes root from Fareast Asia to Western Europe, The pitfalls of trying to defy the laws of nature, Lost in translation in Japan, “Q.E. kindling” and plenty more…

In at least one alternate universe, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates last week and your editor arrived on time to board his flight back home to Taipei. In the known universe, however, neither of these things came to pass.

The Fed, for one, is staying put at near free money and leaving intact its $1.75 trillion purchasing plan, including up to $1.45 trillion in the MBS sludge and $300 billion in treasuries (so called, “quantitative easing”). For how long the people who didn’t understand the risk in the first place will be able to manage it, we couldn’t say. We only know that the physical world doesn’t support any ex nihilo activities. In other words, something never

Deflation takes root from Fareast Asia to Western Europe, The pitfalls of trying to defy the laws of nature, Lost in translation in Japan, “Q.E. kindling” and plenty more…

In at least one alternate universe, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates last week and your editor arrived on time to board his flight back home to Taipei. In the known universe, however, neither of these things came to pass.

The Fed, for one, is staying put at near free money and leaving intact its $1.75 trillion purchasing plan, including up to $1.45 trillion in the MBS sludge and $300 billion in treasuries (so called, “quantitative easing”). For how long the people who didn’t understand the risk in the first place will be able to manage it, we couldn’t say. We only know that the physical world doesn’t support any ex nihilo activities. In other words, something never