[crdoconnor]

I don't see how living near Osaka makes you any the less wrong about calling it undeveloped.

>I won't go into the debate about stimulus BS

That's probably best for you.

Japan has managed to keep its unemployment level pretty low and has had a protracted albeit mild depression over the last 20 years. This is undeniable.

The alternative (no stimulus at all / spiraling self-reinforcing depression) would have resulted in ending up like Greece or Spain. This is also undeniable.

I guess you think 50% youth unemployment vs. 5% counts as "no effect whatsoever"? I would beg to differ.

[ekianjo]

> Oh really, you live next to Osaka and you declared it undeveloped? What the fuck is up with that?

Underdeveloped vs Tokyo, certainly. Look at the number of companies and major industries and revenues in both areas and you'll be in for a good laugh. And in case you did not know, many large companies are leaving Kansai. Not to return.

> Japan has managed to keep its unemployment level pretty low and has had a protracted albeit mild depression over the last 20 years. This is undeniable.

Low unemployment in Asia is not hard. Ever seen how many people are working for super low salaries, doing nothing but making sure people don't go over the cones put on the side of the road? The whole service industry in Japan guarantees low unemployment rates, this has NOTHING to do with stimulus. It's just the way Japanese approach services in the first place anyway.

> The alternative (no stimulus at all / spiraling self-reinforcing depression) would have resulted in ending up like Greece or Spain. This is also undeniable.

No, it would have resulted in unprofitable businesses going bankrupt, followed by a short recession and coming back to a period of growth. Instead of that, the Stimulus is making the recession last forever, and there's no end in sight. But you are probably one the guys who think devaluating 40% of the Yen value is the best way to increase Japan's productivity. Abenomics all the way !

[crdoconnor]

>Underdeveloped vs Tokyo, certainly.

Because Tokyo is the largest city in the world bar none: a phenomenon that would likely not have happened without high speed rail.

>Low unemployment in Asia is not hard.

Low unemployment is not an Asian phenomenon and high unemployment is not a Western phenomenon. Both are the results of economic policymaking.

>No, it would have resulted in unprofitable businesses going bankrupt

Unprofitable businesses were kept alive thanks to the Japanese banks doing extend and pretend. It had precisely nothing to do with stimulus.

A lack of stimulus would have meant GOOD businesses going bankrupt due to a lack of demand while the politically protected ones with their debts being extended-&-pretended STILL staying alive.

Stimulus isn't making the recession last forever. Japanese banks' insistence on extending and pretending is.

> But you are probably one the guys who think devaluating 40% of the Yen value is the best way to increase Japan's productivity.

No, but it would be a great way of bringing back Japanese industry from its current semi-dead state. Wanna know why Koreans and Chinese are eating their lunch in the electronics industry? This.

>Abenomics all the way !

Abenomics is business as usual. If you think there is a significant difference to what came before you are an idiot. The stimulus portion was small and the rest of it was just more QE (because that worked fucking great for the last 20 years!)

Nonetheless, the small stimulus was responsible for a dribble of Japanese growth over the last year or so.