Chopper Pilot Descends on Nippon
Readers are probably aware of recent events in Japan, the global laboratory for interventionist experiments. The theories of assorted fiscal and monetary cranks have been implemented in spades for more than a quarter of a century in the country, to appropriately catastrophic effect. Amid stubbornly stagnating economic output, Japan has amassed a debt pile so vast since the bursting of its 1980s asset bubble, it beggars the imagination.
Here is a brief summary of what just happened: first, contrary to the global trend of incumbents falling from grace nearly everywhere, Shinzo Abe and the LDP achieved a resounding election victory. This victory inter alia allows Abe to proceed with his militaristic agenda unhindered and to keep promoting his economic program that is best described as a mad-cap flight forward.
Secondly, an estimated five seconds after the votes were counted, Abe announced that he would indeed continue to follow the Keynesian playbook by doing even more of what hasn’t worked in over 25 years. His government plans to launch a major new ‘stimulus’ program, rumored to cost 10 trillion yen (approx. $100 billion). Stimulus is the euphemism for shifting taxpayer funds to various favored political cronies. In the process taxpayers will be left with even more bridges to nowhere, so they will at least get a few new eyesores out of it.
Financial market participants immediately assumed that the central bank’s printing press would also be involved in this effort to create prosperity by bureaucratic fiat and consequently decided to lean on the yen (which was slightly overbought anyway). They also bought Japanese stocks, on the theory that they offer at least a small modicum of insurance against the monetary debauchery that is certain to be in train.
This post was published at Acting-Man on July 20, 2016.
Recent Comments