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Many Japanese can't seem to break out of the old ways of doing things.

And the massive outlay means government borrowing has reached 130% of GDP, higher than any other industrialised country.

Huh? Did someone slip an extra zero in there somewhere?

An excellent summary of Japan. One cannot over-emphasize the crash of their 80's Bubble, especially in real estate. Even now, there is a mind-set that everyone has to be in Tokyo. I remember the story of one little dirt farmer who was turned into a billionaire because he owned a small plot of land near the palace. Banks were falling all over themsleves to loan him money.

Bad loans collateralized by bad assets. And the thought that they could use the same rules elsewhere accelerated their decline, notably here in the U.S. They need structural reform, but the society remains quite insular. They have made small reforms, but they are also digging a bigger hole for themsleves with some of their gov't spending programs. It's fascinating to watch -- to see if they can pull out of their dive before they crash.

Now, if we would just parade all the dim/dumb/Dems (and a few RINOs) politicians who thought Japan Inc was a great model to follow...