For anyone wondering why Japan's economy has been stagnant since the 1990s... Well, when nobody is going bankrupt and the government is willing to put any company on financial life support, why improve competitiveness?
“It’s totally unhealthy,” says Martin Schulz, an economist at Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo. “Japan’s business cycle isn’t working. When no old companies go out of business, no new ones can come in because there isn’t room. The old companies will always compete on price, simply because they can.”
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe touts fewer business failures as an economic success, but critics say too-easy credit is keeping "zombie" firms alive, worsening labor shortages, and excess competition is putting downward pressure on prices.
Also, the demographics play a significant role, but that's a completely different topic.
Submitted May 24, 2017 at 08:48PM by COMPUTER1313 http://ift.tt/2rS3xUb
