That's not going to increase consumption demand on the market. New workers in Japan and especially wary about the future and are not like the spenders of the Bubble 時代.
Seems like some irony/self-fulfilling prophecy going on here, though. The optimist, "borrower spender" American is another side of the same coin that values risk taking and has tolerance for failure. If you are too "realist", your reality might actually end up being worse than if you were an optimist.
There's a big difference between borrowing for a business venture and borrowing to subsidize a lavish lifestyle. We have both kind of people in the US, but I have to believe the second type outnumbers the first by quite a bit.
You're both right, and that's the beauty of culture. The double sided sword yields both benefits and disadvantages. The irony is that America's historical appreciation of immigration (one of the best ways to mitigate cultural blind spots) has yielded a backlash against the lack of a cultural bedrock, and become a double edge sword itself.
> The irony is that America's historical appreciation of immigration (one of the best ways to mitigate cultural blind spots) has yielded a backlash against the lack of a cultural bedrock, and become a double edge sword itself.
Only for people who refuse to appreciate that immigration as a whole is America's cultural bedrock, and not merely the effect of immigration from a particular group or region.
Are there upper limits to the level of immigration before this bedrock starts to deteriorate? I was out at a park on the weekend and I'd estimate less than 25% of the people there could speak the same language as me. Does an inability to verbally communicate with my fellow citizens really not affect anything?
I should also clarify, I don't know what percentage of those people were capable of speaking English, based on past experience of attempts I would guess < 25%, but that's pure speculation.
Quebec, founded in 1608 (well, Quebec City), a semi-sovereign nation in Canada whom we literally fought a war with in the past, is not really comparable to the situation in Vancouver. I don't think it's my argument that isn't valid.
> Sharp contrast to the eternal optimist, borrower spender American stereotype.
Agree, while there is a growing number of Japanese who resort to カードローン (quick credit) these days, for instant gratification despite having few savings.
I see the Japanese population as having a more defined vision of the future than Americans, and it's fairly negative vision. This leads to making concrete but pessimistic plans like saving as much money as possible and investing it only into things like real estate.
My impression of the US mindset about the future is that it's hazy but also positive. This leads to low or negative savings and few convictions about where to invest. Most just take a broad portfolio approach and buy index funds. Many people have both debt and holdings in index funds. They're not sure how, but feel optimistic that things will work out well somehow.
I disagree, however I've modded you up because your opinion is valid even if I think it's wrong and you've said nothing offensive.
My viewpoint is far more pessimistic: I think there's a major cultural difference between the US and Japan, and that Japanese tend to be better managers of their personal finances than Americans. Americans have much higher debt, but it's because too many of them have spending addictions, and think they deserve to live like royalty, and with the availability of easy credit get sucked into that trap. I've seen it myself far too many times. Also, perhaps education has something to do with it: Americans generally aren't taught to budget or manage their personal finances in school much from what I've seen. Maybe they are in Japan.
People in America complain a lot about things like the cost of rent, etc., which is definitely true IMO, but they do also tend to splurge on a lot of stuff they don't need, such as Starbucks drinks. If Americans were really short of funds, then how do all these Starbucks on every street corner stay in business selling $5-10 fancy drinks?
Or maybe Americans save less and borrow more because necessary things like education, housing (in certain cities), and healthcare are so damn expensive.
Japan has done an excellent job on health care, but Japanese housing costs are significantly higher on average than those in the US.
Along with a huge and growing underclass of freeters and other workers who cannot land the shrinking number of corporate positions, housing costs are why Japan is famous for "parasite singles". Nonetheless, even those living below the poverty level are less likely to carry personal debt than Americans.
Another problem with attributing American saving habits to health care or schooling costs is that Americans had a high propensity for debt even 30 years ago when those costs were much lower. Cultural differences are a driving factor.
Japan's debt-to-GDP figure far exceeds the US's and yet it's industries are getting punched left and right (by China-Korea and the US). Becoming more realist/risk-averse after the Bubble era is not a great feat IMO.
That's the Japanese government, which is different from the Japanese people, who have among the largest savings per heard on the planet. Do not equal the people to the state, please.
