Huang Yizhan
Most people have heard the saying of "Lost XX Year" in Japan. This originated from the peak of the Japanese economy in 1989, and the foam rupture came, causing economic growth to fall in a long -term stagnation., Enterprise bankruptcy, a large number of middle class fall into the predicament.According to the Human Development Index (HDI) released by the United Nations, to measure the development of a country with "per capita GDP, education, and medical care", Japan once ranked first in the world before "lost", but in 2007The 17th, and in the latest (2022) report, Japan's HDI is ranked 19th.
From the perspective of data, the economic recession and the depreciation of the Japanese currency have naturally affected the performance of the GDP (GDP), which is denominated in the US dollar.EssenceHowever, the medical and education that also belongs to HDI, the strength shown in Japan is still dominating Asia (even the world): in addition to Europe and the United States, the Nobel Prize winners and research institutions have a proud world ranking, with an average of each year.More than 3.8%from GDP expenditure for R & D (3.45%compared to the United States, the EU average of 2.32%, and the average member states of the Organization of the Organization is 2.96%).When it comes to medical care, in terms of quality, social security or convenience, Japan is undoubtedly a very high level in the world.According to the WHO) research in 2018, Japan is the country with the longest per capita life expectancy (male is 81 years old and female is 87 years old).I suffered from the Pharmacy Pharmacy for myself), and the National Health Law and Insurance Mechanism, which was implemented as early as 1958, all made Japan fully qualified to stand in the "most advanced country".
Since the basic protection of education, medical care, social welfare, etc., where does the theory of "loss" come from?Perhaps from comparison, in the heyday of Japan, "a Tokyo is enough to buy the whole United States" shows that hot money is everywhere, crazy into the stock market and housing market, and unreasonablely pushes asset valuations.The Nikkei Index also set the highest record of 38,915 points in 1989.
But the prosperity will decline, not to mention the "square agreement" led by the United States in 1985. It is generally believed that it is the fuse that breaks through the Japanese bubble.At that time, Japan was a strong manufacturing country, and high -quality home appliances, automobiles, semiconductor and other exports, European and American giants must "coerce" yen in order to prevent a large number of trade deficit.On the one hand, the Japanese government must obey the requirements of the elder brother in the United States, and on the other hand, it has responded with quantitative loose (QE) and low interest rates, resulting in a large amount of cheap funds to promote the continuous expansion of asset bubbles.
In the best period, 13 major companies in the world are Japanese companies, and there are very few now. The myths no longer exist.Even so, in terms of competitiveness and even the general perception of the world, it is still difficult to compare with other typical "lost" countries.Like Argentina and Brazil, they have fallen into the dilemma of "resource traps"; there is the Philippines, which once known as the second richest in Asia in the 1970s, and now its international influence is not worth mentioning at all.
On the other hand, in Japan, it is called "Lost XX Year" all year after year, but it is not as good as Latin American countries and the Philippines.At the end of 2022, the proportion of Japanese debt to GDP was as high as 266%, but most of the creditors were Japanese themselves, and major letter -rated institutions still rated Japan as Class A or higher; the Japanese currency was still regarded as the main currency by the International Monetary Fund as the main currency.And maintain the weight of the special withdrawal right (SDR).
Why is the same "loss", Japan's performance is far better than other countries?Is it still the third largest economy in the world after the United States and China?This also involves many complicated domestic and foreign factors, including the growth of regional political territory, and the government and institutional structure of various countries.Even if Japan has declined a lot compared to the heyday, before the epidemic, it is still the largest capital output country, with a total overseas direct investment (FDI) with a total amount of more than $ 1 trillion (about 1330 billion yuan).Such strength directly supports millions of employees and indirectly supports 2 to 3 times workers around the world, and the economic influence is not low at all.
Besides, Japan's close alliance relations with the United States, and policies and budgets that are actively betting on semi -guide systems, renewable energy, technology and innovation in recent years (haveIt is not comparable), all show that Japan's overall soft strength and hard power are not weak.Although there are many critical places in terms of financial and monetary policy, in the long -term development, Japan published by Clyde Prestowitz, President of the American Institute of Economics Strategy, returned to the world.And its importance to the importance of the United States and the world has listed many factors of Japan's "prosperity", including from national characteristics, cultural concepts, discipline of corporate organization, efficiency of work, etc.Japan had the opportunity to return to the world's first throne in 2050.
Perhaps the world's first is a little exaggerated, and there is still a while before 2050. The world bureau is changing rapidly. No one will be allowed to develop.Aside from the perspective of macroeconomics, from the perspective of the people's economy alone, whether it is a foreign country or a foreign person who lives in Japan, or a tourist who has a short -term tourism, in addition to the recent "Japanese currency is cheap", most of them still feel that Japan still feels that JapanIt is a place where it is convenient to live and have high quality in food, clothing, and transportation. Whether it is economical or cultural or geographical politics, the influence on the world cannot be underestimated.Such a country, even if it has been named "lost", is still "brilliant".
According to the "reasons for investing in Japan", according to the Japanese Trade Revitalization Agency (Jetro), the Japanese market is still very attractive for foreign investment, such as a stable rule of law environment, high -efficiency public services and infrastructure, and cities 'cities' cities.Safety and convenience of life.Looking at several key figures, Japan's unemployment rate by the end of 2022 is 2.5%(GDP per capita GDP exceeds 39,000 US dollars). Compared6%and 2.9%in South Korea, Japan's performance is not too bad.
The author is the United Nations Information Technology Advisor
