Subscribe Feed (RSS)Comparisons with 1990’s Japan
October 10th, 2008 by eyal | Filed under economics. |
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Scarred by past woes, Japan sees U.S. bailout as a first step - International Herald Tribune
But the differences are also pointed and revealing. The United States reacted far more quickly than Japan, committing taxpayer funds just over a year after the subprime mortgage problems surfaced in summer of 2007. Japan took nearly eight years to pass a sweeping bailout, a delay that contributed to a long economic slump that Japanese call their “lost decade.”“Japanese government and financial institutions realized there was a problem, but they tried to cover it up,” said Junichi Ujiie, chairman of Nomura Holdings, Japan’s largest investment bank. “The United States has done in months what Japan took years to do.”
Interesting comparison and comments from Japanese bankers who’ve been through a similar crisis in the 90’s. Regardless of how the markets recover, V shape, U shape, W shape etc. The damage to the banking industry and main street confidence will take a long time to heal. If the current ongoing efforts by governments worldwide fail then Iceland will be just the tip of the… couldn’t resist the pun :-).
