Hiroko Tabuchi’s NYTimes article, A Lesson from Japan, outlines how Japanese consumers, after “the lost decade of the 90s,” have never fully returned to their former levels of spending.
While the piece seems to urge Americans to spend, spend, spend (lest our economy remain stuck in the mud forever), the more subtle thread is that Japanese companies never returned to their former levels of compensation, which, in turn does not allow workers to spend.
The “Lost Decade” of Japan that I keep hearing so much about seems to be more of an ongoing “Lost Lifestyle”, with benefits slashed and pensions eradicated, even for those who have banked on that security their whole lives and now face retirement looming with no safety net.
Japan’s workforce has changed, with companies replacing traditional positions with temp jobs. No benefits, no job security. Forty-eight percent of workers under 24 are temps.
With no sense of irony the article states:
“These workers tend to shun conspicuous consumption”
Really? That is funny because all of the temps I have ever known here in the States drive brand new cars and live in luxury high-rises.
Must be different in Japan.
Photo of college student job rally in Japan, via The Bonzai Effect.
Tags: world
