The disaster in Japan is almost beyond comprehension. Without minimizing the scale of the humanitarian tragedy, it is already possible to discern the emerging economic debate.
Stock markets immediately anticipated the potential benefits to Japan's construction industries and their suppliers. Policy makers in the U.K. and Europe, who are busy implementing austerity measures to curb budget deficits, should take note.
The valuable argument coming from the ashes of this crisis is simple: Japan can afford to rebuild.
The Bank of Japan is clear about this. In asserting this point, and calming markets with massive liquidity injections, the central bank is basing its Keynesian policy on a wholly different analysis from that of economists and politicians promoting austerity measures in Europe and the U.S.
The economic possibilities of nations don't depend on financial resources, but rather on human, technological and organizational power. The banking industry relies on these productive resources. The stability of banks hinges on lending for projects that will generate revenue streams for their own repayment.
Power of Banking
Japan is replete with all the human ingenuity and dedication that reconstruction and rebirth demands. The power of modern banking can enable Japanese society to deploy all of these resources, irrespective of the condition of Japanese public finances. The domestic banking system can circumvent the naysayers of international finance in a manner that should be understood by all financial authorities and economists.
Japan can address this natural and man-made disaster without handing a begging bowl around to other nations.
The same logic that enables Japan to solve its multiple crises defies European Union and American politicians who have reacted to the 2007-09 financial crisis with austerity policies. Their doctrine holds that because public finances are in disrepair we can't address the energy or food insecurity threatening our economies, or to reduce the unemployment that jeopardizes economic, social and political stability. This diagnosis puts the cart before the horse: There is an energy and jobs crisis, not a public-finance one.
Affordable Work
The state of public finances is primarily a consequence of the financial crisis, the increase in insolvencies and unemployment, and the resultant decline in revenue. If there is reconstruction work that can be done by the people of Japan -- and there are people to do it -- it is affordable. The marvel of the domestic-banking systems that have existed since the 18th century is to permit this economic process to be stimulated. New work will generate all the public revenue necessary to repay any loans from the banking industry.
The nuclear tragedy unfolding in Japan has its roots in faulty logic applied by international financiers and their "hired guns"' in the economics profession. Society has been convinced that nuclear power is necessary because it is the only affordable option. But all energy technologies are affordable. The real test of affordability isn't cheapness but the most effective use of the real resources of society, taking into account threats like climate change and the risks associated with particular technology choices.
Man-Made Hazard
To have built nuclear power plants in the so-called Ring of Fire was to create an entirely unnecessary, man-made hazard. Decisions as to whether nuclear power is the most appropriate response to energy shortages and the threat of climate change is a question for society -- not for business or finance. This is most clearly illustrated in the demonstrations and debates surrounding the forthcoming elections in Germany's Christian-Democrat-dominated state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
It is our tragedy that policy makers permit a glimpse of these lessons only in times of war. Unemployment in peacetime, combined with risky and reckless investment, is imposed on nations by ignorance, greed and special interests. May the legacy of this appalling and destructive crisis in Japan be the abandonment of such faulty and brutal doctrines, so that the people of Japan and of the world may now turn to the possibilities of what can be achieved to restore financial stability as well as energy and job security.
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The reenactment of Glass-Steagall is underestimated, as it is essential for the defense of the Nation, the protection of the population. It will cancel all obligations to the Inter Alpha Group of Banks, terminating the entropic monetary system. Ending the Fed, creating the funding, by the national authority, for the necessary facilities that enhance the population's standard of living are the imperative priorities.
Cost consciousness of the monetarists have created our lack of energy facilities and all the deficiencies of the public infrastructure grid. All has been and continues to be sacrificed to feed the monetary empire. That was and is the core problem in Japan and the United States. Demonizing Nuclear facilities now is a mistake, as we now have 4th generation nuclear facilities that burn their waste and shut down easier and safely. Exploring space, as the recent Solar activity of late is correlated to our earthquakes is a matter of survival. NASA must be expanded not shut down.
On the other hand, the US is lacking any strength of will or courage. The US is certainly not using austerity measures. Our budget deficits are historically unprecedented. And what did these huge deficits buy? Some big infrastructure investment for the future? No. Some new defense initiative that will protect the public better than before? No. The republicans are proposing a 2% cut in the Federal budget and this is decried as Draconian by dems. Wisconsin's public employee unions are expected to pay small sums for their pensions and health care and they walk off the job.
The Japanese are beset by a calamity of biblical proportions and this pundit complains about an energy choice they made in a country with no energy reserves of its own. Please.
I wish the US had 10% of the courage and will of Japan.
Their decision to 'invest' in nuclear power considering they are parked over the intersection of four major earthquake faults wasn't equally benighted.
Sure the US has the wealth to fix itself but like Japan lacks the political will. It's politicians would rather pay the rich for being rich than have a vibrant, dyanamic nation. They would rather see the many live blighted lives than do the jobs they were hired to do.
Up to now, long suffering Americans have politely born the burden of these parasites. But that ground, like Japan's, is beginning to shift.
that views themselves as a team - not splintered factions divided by politics, race, religon and sexuality.
japan's leaders have not spent the last 60 years spreading fear and hatred of each other. they will
pull together and recover as a team. we on the other hand have lost the ability to achieve anything
meaningful. bold is no longer an adjective used to describe america.
If the pollution factor was added into coal, and oil plants, I doubt they would be any cheaper under todays prices, and will only increase in cost as fuel becomes more scarce, and pollution becomes a larger target.
When the Arab Oil embargo hit in 1973 we imported about 37% of our energy needs. Denmark imported 0ver 98% of theirs. Now we import over 70% of our energy needs, while Denmark exports excess energy to bordering states.
They showed it can be done. We just lack the will, and leadership. How much longer will it take to make sustainable energy decisions, instead of short term ones?
Moving from crisis to crisis shows poor management.
My opinions, you are entitled to your own.
That's exactly right! The US has absolutely no plan.
Well - actually they do not care about enslaving blacks again . The new improved Neocon game is to enslave all ethnicities . Their goal: rewrite the constitution to effectively dis-enfranchise their opposition .
VOTE !
You need to live in Japan on a work visa for 5 years, after which time you are eligible to apply for citizenship. You will need to speak Japanese proficiently and to have no criminal record. You will also have to demonstrate a reasonable understanding of Japanese history and culture. Getting and maintaining a work visa for 5 years is much easier than as in the US.