> > The debt time bomb that could explode in Japan's face
> > TOKYO, Jan 28 (AFP) -
> >
Perhaps the US calculation should include these items. But where has all
this pump-priming gotten Japan? "Well within means"? Well, we'll see.
> > Goldman Sachs predicts the government's "on-balance sheet" gross debt will
> > surpass 151 percent next year, compared to 91 percent 10 years ago, the
> > result of the more than 850 billion dollars that the government has spent
> > during the "lost decade."
>What a crock. This is the same crap that the Social Security privatization
>crowd peddles in the US, you know, if you throw in Sallie Mae, Freddie
>Mac, Medicare and Social Security, US public debt levels would increase by
>a similar proportion. Japan has spent around $600 billion in bailouts and
>pump-priming, or $60 billion a year, well within the means of a $4.5
>trillion economy.
> > Taking its own valuation of unfunded pension liabilities rather than the
> > government's, Goldman Sacks reckons that Japan's total public debt is more
> > than four times GDP. And the true extent of Japan's financial crisis is
> > even more scary once the vast bad debts of the banks are included.
I rather doubt that the East Asian bourgeoisie, especially the one in Tokyo, have any higher priority other than joining their "rentier" brethren in the financial plunder. And this is, after all, _calculated_ plunder, which is another way of saying that finance is not all powerful, and its "players" _must_ maintain some grip on reality if they hope to succeed in their world of capitalist economy. That's why outfits like Goldman Sachs Asia exist - they're not just propaganda organs.
For this reason, I'm more likely to pay credence to these - with an appropriate grain of salt - rather than the endless stream of self-delusions propagated by the Japanese state. And, guess what, hardly anyone in urban Japan, at least, pays much mind to its blather theses days, either.
>They just want to get their slimy tentacles on those pension funds, of
>course; create a crisis, then call in self-appointed experts to
>"solve" the crisis for outrageous fees, the same way Rohatyn &
>Co. gang-raped New York. Too bad for them the East Asian bourgeoisie have
>different priorities, like piling into the chip and software biz.
-Brad Mayer Oakland, CA
>- -- Dennis