Thursday, Feb 21, 2008

Will we experience Japan's 'lost decade'?

MoneyWeek: Is America heading for a Japan-style crisis?

In the 1990s, Japan struggled with a burst credit bubble, fast-falling asset prices and a near-bankrupt financial sector. Now the US is heading in the same direction. And Britain’s economy is also in more trouble than most...

Posted by damien @ 06:21 PM (484 views) Add Comment

5 Comments

1. Ohdear said...

no we will not. Hope that helps!

Thursday, February 21, 2008 06:50PM Report Comment
 

2. japanese uncle said...

As I have said time and again, this economy is diving into arguably the most horrific storm ever seen in history without any contingency buffer ie personal savings. It's almost like a man forced to jump from the Dover cliff with just an umbrella. You need to be a Mary Poppins to survive this.

Thursday, February 21, 2008 10:41PM Report Comment
 

3. wiltshire said...

JU, sadly that guy forced to jump from the Dover Cliffs, being British he swapped the umbrella for a massive TV and a 12 pack of beer.

Friday, February 22, 2008 12:17AM Report Comment
 

4. drewster said...

"Japanese rates were 0.5% in 1995, but the banks still weren’t lending. Anyone who wanted credit had to turn to the consumer lending companies, which charged interest at more like 30%."

Wow! What if the same happens here - the BoE can drop rates as low as it likes, but the banks will have to charge high rates in order to re-capitalise.

Presumably savers were getting almost no interest on their savings. If the same situation emerged here, I can see "social lending" companies like Zopa making a killing - they would basically undercut the banks' spreads. This would leave the banks in an even worse situation than before. Incidentally, Zopa already offers around 7% - although that's before bad debt losses.

Friday, February 22, 2008 02:35AM Report Comment
 

5. tyrellcorporation said...

'And while we need a robust public sector, says Simon Denham of Capital Spreads, this one has become a “parasitic organism” devouring far too much of our resources for little return. Public sector workers’ productivity is over 50% lower than that of private-sector counterparts, yet the sector accounts for around 45% of GDP.'

Gobsmacking!

Friday, February 22, 2008 10:08AM Report Comment
 

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