>It's the weak link of neoliberalism, for sure. Japan's problem is, it
>doesn't have an EU-style superstate to funnel capital to its neighbors.
And it has a frightened working class watching an entrenched 'moral economy' - in which it constituted an estate worthy of due note, due share, and due guarantees (some EP Thompson references for Justin) - dissolving under their feet. So they save their Yen, diminish their sense of loyalty to the employing class, and contemplate their politics. I wonder what'd make a Japanese worker shell out for a few extra MHz or horse-power in such a climate of uncertainty and disillusionment? And I wonder how Japan can get its boojies back on a healthy accumulation curve without that happening?
>East Asia is sort of bobbing gently in the slipstream of the mighty
>Starship Europa, which finally has its act together and will undoubtedly
>cut interest rates one of these days to give its US neocolony a
>lift.
Ain't the cross-value of the Euro politically important there? How far can interest rates drop without putting pressure on the Euro?
>Japan these days sort of reminds me of Shinji Ikari at the
>conclusion of "Evangelion"; all the angels have been defeated, but he's
>still terribly unhappy, and has to wrestle with the toughest opponent of
>all -- himself.
Coz he's asking Japanese workers to make a cultural shift much more dramatic than even the crap we Anglo-Saxons have been copping since the seventies - and that was bad enough.
And what if the new PM (the really snappy dresser all full of neoliberal conviction - whassis name?) does rapidly uncover the Japanese finance sector. What exactly might the consequences be of exposing a few trillion Yen of bad debt? Will the rest of the yen that have been feeding Wall St return home to plug the holes? We'd suddenly be wetting our knickers watching the other side of the Pacific then, eh?
Cheers, Rob.