Why did japan stumble
... Japan is still suffering from the economic crisis resulting from the collapse of its bubble economy of high land prices and stock market prices 1989-1990. Land and stock prices plunged as assets on which massive amounts of debt had been secured upon, creating bad debt for banks and consequently reducing lending resources available to business in Japan. ... The world economic slowdown following the events of September 11th have also seriously affected Japan as the country’s export market which had previously helped sustain the economy have come under strain. ... The main sources behinds Japan’s previous economic success; a booming population and a new focus on industry, may in fact be the sources of their current problems. ... The basic problems applicable to the weak economy take a dual form; there has been an insufficient adjustment to the burst of the bubble economy and the fast decline in the number of births and aging of the population, experienced by Japan at a pace of which has not been experienced in other developed nations. ... Japan has also been troubled by aftershocks of the bursting of the bubble economy. ... Economies for low-tech products have also seen increased competition from emerging economies, such as China, while Japan has also been faced with increasing competition pressures from developing countries in Asia for hi-tech products. Japan already has near zero interest rates. The Bank of Japan charges 0. ... This combined with low, deflating prices lead consumers think "why buy now, if prices will be lower next month? ... “Macro policy in Japan has little scope to offer further economic stimulus. ... The Central Bank of Japan will now use this as one of a number of steps forwards success. ... This most recent downturn in Japan can be attributed to lower industrial output and corporate investment. ... ” Regulation in Japanese economy has received much criticism in light of Japan’s stumbling economy. ... It was believed that there was a need to have strong state planning controlling the economy and, indeed, this system was very favourable to economic growth during the period in which Japan strove to catch up with the developed western economies. ... Japan’s competition policies are restricting growth and promoting misallocation of resources to inefficient sources. In Japan’s Small and Medium Sized Enterprises sector, competition is restricted. ... With the development of neighbouring Asian countries and a shift in the significance of trade if Japan is to grow and pressure by the World Trade Organization, as well as a free trade agreement with Singapore, Japan will have to adapt as it faces a greater influx of foreign products and such non tariff barriers will not be well received by foreign firms. The uncompetitive nature of the Japan economy creates a situation whereby resources are unproductive. ... Japan’s modern educational system has been changed drastically over the last hundred years starting with significant reform under the period of the 1868 Meiji Restoration. ... The Japanese educational system was therefore used to teach Japanese students the specified ideologies of strong nationalism but the education system was also seen as the future for Japan and, as such, a system that would yield future employees to be used in the modern economy. ... The reconstruction of Japan as a state goal was weaved into the state education system as the elite university system continued enabling Japan to produce a competent public body of bureaucrats that would be needed as Japan once again searched to develop on a huge scale after the war. The burst of the bubble economy and Japan’s inability to latch on to the IT boom forced Japan to revise its education system. The need to reform Japan’s educational system is derived from the need to restructure Japan’s economy. ... Japan’s previous educational system suited an economy with high unemployment of resources, though as the economy reaches full employment developments in the education system are needed to go hand in hand with the new economic environment Japan has stumbled across. ... Japan’s research and development policy must be more positive in order to benefit from a more advanced economy. ... Again over regulation in Japan must be reformed to allow research and development to progress naturally therefore governmental agencies may need to reduce their regulatory authority and allow the private sector as well as universities greater freedom in carrying out its research and development programs. ... The problem of bad bank debt has been widely argued has the source of economic trouble in Japan. ... The UK governments approach to Railtrack is a similar situation to that of Japan with its banking sector.