[stinkytaco]

I think this argument ignores other large factors in both of those cycles, namely demographics. Japan went into a demographic spiral with an aging workforce and not enough labor capacity to replace them. Decreased demand, as well as the factors you discuss, made outsourcing more appealing. The opposite is true post WWII. There was heavy investment in production infrastructure due to the war, but we're also looking at one of the few times in human history where labor was more in demand than capital. Add to this the rapid advance in technology which allowed goods -- and labor -- to spread more widely, or to even eliminate human labor, and you have a complicated soup of problems.

I don't think either the Keynesians or the Austrians can really claim a victory in those examples because external factors played a large role.