Why Japan Fell ... And What It Teaches Us -- Robert J. Samuelson, Newsweek
It’s hard to remember that in the 1980s Japan had the world’s most admired economy. It would, people widely believed, achieve the highest living standards and pioneer the niftiest technologies. Nowadays, all we hear are warnings not to repeat the mistakes that resulted in Japan’s “lost decade” of economic growth. Japan’s cardinal sins, we’re told, were skimping on economic “stimulus” and permitting paralyzing “deflation” (falling prices). People postponed buying, because they expected prices to go lower. That’s the conventional wisdom—and it’s wrong.
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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
How China Is like 19th Century America -- Stephen Mihm and Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Time Magazine
Embarrassment in Seoul: The world won't follow slow-growth, weak-dollar America. -- Wall Street Journal editorial
The cost of America's free lunch -- Daniel Gros, European Voice
Analysis: Nine years on, the Taliban have a message for West -- Reuters
Rethinking an Afghanistan Exit Strategy: Interview With Richard Armitage -- Council On Foreign Relations
Politics Over Peace In The Middle East -- New York Times editorial
Is humanitarian aid bad for Africa? -- Margaret Wente, Globe And Mail
Can Mexico Be Saved?: The mayor of Juárez—the border town at the center of the drug wars—says he's not getting enough help from his capital, or Washington either. -- Mary Anastasia O`Grady, Wall Street Journal
Stability wins in Iraq -- Washington Post editorial
How well are American Muslims challenging extremists? -- Joseph A. Bosco, Christian Science Monitor
How the West is Being Lost -- James Zumwalt, Human Events
Ireland's debt drama threatens to spill on to euro zone stage -- Arthur Beesley, Irish Times
Germany Was Right When It Called Our Financial Policy "Clueless" -- Larry M. Elkin, Palisades Hudson, Business Insider