It’s not the direct taxes (e.g. income taxes and sales taxes) that are Japan’s problem.
Japan’s problem is: “the problem whose name shall never be mentioned.”
Over-regulation. Japan has near zero legal immigration and more than 200% over-regulation by a network of regulatory authorities, bureaucracies, agencies, as well as city and national governments.
Since speaking of “over-regulation” is prohibited, the pundits talk only of Japan’s poor demographics (e.g. declining birth rates) and its need for “Stimulus” as if the Stimulus in 1989 wasn’t enough so the Stimulus of 1990 was needed, but it wasn’t enough so they had to do a Stimulus in 1991...and in fact have pretty well done some form of government money-pumping on a massive scale every year since to date.
...but it’s their hidden tax of over-regulation that is killing them.
How can Japan innovate new 3D printers when it is illegal there to 3D print useful products such as firearms?
How can Japan innovate new crops when GM seeds are prohibited there?
Japan’s farming rules alone prevent japan from even *copying* the U.S. hyper-farming revolution, much less innovating such a thing there first.
Ever hear of much private aviation in Japan? Tough to innovate when you are regulated out of the industry.
That’s their hidden tax, and it’s an economy-killer.
Japan is a hive society/nation. Karl Marx would be comfortable living there.
Spot on. It’s happening here as well. The next President can cause an economic boom by simply reducing the level of regulation back to the already excessive level of the GW Bush Presidency.