Nuclear Crisis in Japan? When the Cure is Worse Than the Disease

I recently concluded an interview with a new publication that is under the support of Casey Research and that publication s called the International Man. It is a publication geared towards the expat or people thinking of expatration out of the USA or other western nations into the developing world in order to find their success and new opportunities.


You can subscribe to the International Man here.

BING CROSBY - BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?

We spoke of many things related to Japan and one of the most difficult questions dealt with the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident. I was asked how this chain of events would affect the Japanese and world economy.


Not to belittle a serious situation, I replied that, in and of itself, the disaster followed by the nuclear accident at Fukushima is, in the long run view of things in Japan, a blip on the screen. The nuclear problems in Fukushima are serious to be sure, but for the over-all view of Japan, that alone is not such a huge event. It is the ping-pong effect that this incident is going to have on Japan that is difficult to access the total damage that it will cause. Specifically, how much bungling will the incompetents running this country into the ground will cause with their ill-conceived and poorly considered "solutions".


Consider: There are only 750,000 people living in the Miyagi area where the earthquake and tsunami struck hardest. This disaster and the nuclear power plant accident has displaced about 400,000 (if anyone has exact figures, please send along!). Had this accident happened in Hamaoka or Tokai, south of Tokyo, it would have been an entirely different story. There are 35 million households in the Tokyo area alone.


At the end of World War II, Japan had over 2 million dead soldiers. Almost 1 million dead civilians and her cities were carpet bombed into ruin. Yet Japan recovered. This earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident is in a small corner of Japan. Once again, not to belittle a very dire and serious situation, but it is the aftereffects of this situation - combined with Japan's debt versus GDP and a rapidly aging society - along with an exodus of cheap foreign labor that's what's really going to hurt this country.


The actual disaster is bad enough. But it is the after effects that are going to kill us. You've heard the expression that the "Cure is worse than the disease?" Well here is a case example happening in slow motion right in front of our faces.  It is the "ping-pong" effect. And the repercussions of this ping pong effect are spreading wider and wider and everyday brings a new facet to this problem as it continually evolves.  


That ping-pong effect could have very serious and long term effects and cause huge damage to the Japanese economy and, in turn, seriously hurt the world economy.

One of the worst things to come out of the Fukushima accident is, not only radiation leaking out into the ocean is - quite surprisingly -  the fact that radiation has been detected in unsafe levels in tea leaves in farms in Odawara - south of Tokyo. This is very bad for those farmers and a real head scratcher as to how this has come about. It also, on the other hand, dampens complaints that some people have about the government covering up and lying about the radiation levels. If the government were always lying and covering up as some claim, then this information would have never seen the light of day. I'll be the first to suggest that everyone should be skeptical of everything they hear and see on the mass media or from what the government says, but I also have always said that each person needs to research facts. This is why I list the radiation levels in Tokyo that are published daily by a non-governmental, science research group, the Advanced Science and Technology Unit. on this blog. See here. This group does not publish conjecture and just facts as to daily radiation levels. (The fact that a government group has also researched a published results of radiation levels in food in Fukushima, Miyagi and now Kanagawa proves that there are reliable reports coming out about radiation levels of concern to the public well-being.)


But, in the long run, and for the over-all view of the health of the nation, let's examine briefly the shockingly great deal (poor deal for the public) the Japanese government has given to TEPCO, the owners of the nuclear power plant, to bail out that company. First off, any thinking person should be dead set against a government bailout of any privately owned company. Why do privately owned companies get to enjoy profits (TEPCO charges the highest utility rates in the region and owns 44% of the market and is the #1 energy company in all of Asia) and pocket them but when they lose money, they get bailed out by the public? It is also a crime that TEPCO carried no casualty insurance. (Global Research has a great article on this here.) You or I lose our drivers license if we have no car insurance but a big company in bed with the government can run a nuclear power plant without insurance!?


The bailout package is $62 billion (USD).  Japan cannot afford this bailout. It is, also, not really a bailout as such. There will be no bonds issued. TEPCO has 30 years to repay so the actual plan is to have the Japanese government print our way out of this mess.


Throw on top of that the point that a privately owned company is giving up some control to the government and you really have to wonder what people are thinking about. Why in the world would anyone want such an inept and useless bunch of people like the Japanese government - a government who has nearly bankrupted this nation - to take over a privately owned corporation? I think this is beyond comprehension. 


Think about it folks, we are already at 225% debt to GDP. This debt is growing like a dangerous anuerism near the heart of the public. Giving this government more control and more leeway to spend and throw money at problems is not the solution. Adding another $62 billion dollars to Japan's debt mountain is not going to help us at all. The public has shown a willingness to save, but the government has not shown a willingness to stop the spend and the printing. This, plus a recession, deflation, aging population, exodus of cheap foreign labor, and some more problems that will surely pop up as we go - just as sure as the sun will rise in the east - shows that it is not the actual disaster that is going to kill us. 


The thing that is going to do us in is not the disease (all of our problems). It's the cure prescribed by the fools running Japan's government (easy credit, printing money and more debt) that will surely kill us all.


Judging from the way things are going and how the government's answer to problems is always the same, it shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone when the day soon comes that Japan's debt to GDP nears 250% ~ 300%. Could it be that far off? I don't think so.


The cure is certainly worse than the disease.

Idiots in Government Waste Thousands of Dollars Buying Super-Hero Capes

Yesterday, I wrote a blog complaining how the clowns in the government in Japan wanted to raise sales tax - in the middle of some of the worst economic conditions and after the worst natural disaster in Japan's history. It was one of the few blog posts that I had written recently that readers completely agreed with. In Japan's Tax-At-All-Costs Political Class, I wrote:


As usual, when it comes to doing something about the economy, the government cannot admit its errors and try to strip them away. As is the case now, and has always been the case, the government of Japan's answer to financial problems is not to cut spending or to sell poorly valued and foolishly bought US government backed securities (that lose value every day), but the answer is, and always will be to spend and raise taxes.

STEVIE WONDER - YOU HAVEN'T DONE NOTHING

Well, here's a story from the USA that takes the cake. It's about how idiots in government are spending $75,000 in tax monies on a campaign to puts Super-hero capes on the unemployed. Residents of Central Florida can win cash prizes if they follow the unemployment office's Twitter or Facebook account.

Adventures of Unemployed Man? 

What's next? "Horror Stories of Homelessness Man?"

How's that for putting a dent in unemployment? They start a Social Network service and give out cash prizes like a lottery to winners.


How in the world is that going to help unemployment!?


From Raw Story:

The jobs agency plans to distribute the superhero capes to residents taking part in the agency's "Cape-A-Bility Challenge" by trying to vanquish "Dr. Evil Unemployment." 

From the Daily Bail: 

Before you do anything else watch this idiotic video that was financed completely by tax dollars...

• WFC Cape Video

WCF or Workforce Central Florida gets $24 million annually from federal taxpayers and accomplishes virtually nothing based on their own statistics.

Residents of central Florida can win a cape by becoming a Workforce Central Florida fan on Facebook, taking a Facebook quiz, having a photo taken with a foam cutout of Dr. Evil Unemployment, tweeting a job posting, or using LinkedIn to recommend someone using the word "super."

The boss of the unemployment campaign in question defended the campaign, saying it will spread the agency's message. The capes, she said, are a direct tie-in to the larger effort.

"Some people will wear them, and others will ask 'How do I get one?'" she said.

"Everyone," she said, "is a superhero in the fight against unemployment."

This is just one more example - in a long line of millions - trillions - that will never end that show how the government wastes money. Remember, whether it is idiocy like this, doing "something" about the economy or helping the poor or suffering, the government will always waste money and make the situation worse. History proves it.

Then on top of that, they take their cut of the monies for salaries and vacations all the while giving no bid contracts to their friends. I wonder if they had a fair bidding process for the job to manufacture $25,000 worth of Super-Hero capes?

I'll bet you a huge office full of glazed donuts for unemployed workers that they didn't.

"Everyone is a Superhero in the fight against unemployment?" Indeed....

Japan's Insane Tax-At-All-Costs Political Class

This will be my 800th posting on this blog. I think it is fitting that, after all that has happened, as through the short history of this blog, the economy of Japan and most western nations are close to collapse, as Japan's national debt is over 200% of GDP, as the US government has surpassed the legal limit on the debt ceiling for that nation and into de facto bankruptcy, as silver hits a new 31 year high to nearly $44 USD an ounce and gold is knocking at the door of $1500 dollars an ounce, that this 800th blog should be about taxes and the economy.

BEATLES CARTOON - TAXMAN

Once again, the news shows that our rulers never learn their lessons when it comes to taxation and debt. After the disastrous events of the last month starting on March 11th and continuing today, once again, the government of this country shows that their only answer to our financial problems is to raise taxes.

Jiji Press reports:

Tokyo, April 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan is considering raising the consumption tax by 3 percentage points for a limited period of some three years to secure funds to rebuild areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, officials said Monday.

   Japan will be able to secure 7.5 trillion in annual tax revenue by raising the tax rate to 8 pct from 5 pct, government and Democratic Party of Japan officials said.

   The nation is preparing the first supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 with the spending amount of some 4 trillion yen. The budget will be covered without new debt issuance.

   Tokyo is likely to compile more budgets for the current year, as many in the government and the ruling party believe that more than 10 trillion yen should be spent in total on the reconstruction of the disaster-devastated areas.

   To finance the second and later budgets, the government will issue reconstruction bonds. Many think that the revenue from the envisioned tax hike should be used entirely to redeem the reconstruction bonds, the officials said.

It says in the first paragraph, "Japan is considering raising the consumption tax by 3 percentage points for a limited period of some three years..." Sure. Only three years, right? And after that, we're supposed to believe that the Japanese government will have their financial house in such good order and fine shape that they can cut taxes? What planet are these people living on? Has the Japanese government ever cut taxes? How, pray tell, are they supposed to be able to do that when the economy is so bad and, as I mentioned, our public debt has surpassed 200% of GDP?

History also shows us what happens when sales taxes are raised. There will be a correlating drop in sales equal to the percentage of the sales tax; raise taxes by three percent and sales will drop by three percent. And who winds up paying for this kind of sales tax hike? Not the ultra-rich or corporations who have all sorts built-in tax advantages. The rich only have to spend a few percentage points of their income for basic foodstuffs. The average middle class household is spending 15~25% or more just for survival. Hit them with a sales tax increase and you hit them below the belt. 

The good example goes like this: Say, average millionaire wants to buy a new yacht? No problem. It's needed to entertain guest so it is a business and tax write-off. But, say, the single mother with a two kids whose husband has run off and doesn't pay any alimony, is not buying yachts and diamond necklaces, she is scrimping and saving to buy milk, eggs and rice. and the basics she needs to survive.

A 3% hike in her grocery bill hits hard. 

The average household is is also expected to carry the burden of massive public debt created by the government. It is this government who arbitrarily decides to tax one class of poor people to give to another class of poor people (in this case, the average Japanese family gets taxed to pay for the suffering and reconstruction of the poor who suffered in the Tohoku disaster) all the while the government takes a margin for delivering these services and gives no-bid reconstruction contracts to their cronies.

Nikkei 225 at ¥9441 on April 19, 2011

The economy is already in desperate shape. Japan's credit rating has been downgraded in the last year and the Nikkei 225 is wheezing away at under 9,500 (it is at 1/4 the amount it was at the height of the bubble economy) and it has also been reported that 15.7% of Japan's population now live below the poverty level. Think about that. 

And, with all of that, with all of this suffering and misery caused by badly thought out government policies, these people want to raise taxes? They must be completely insane.


Japan owns trillions of dollars in US government bonds that were bought with tax monies taken from the public. The value of these bonds have lost some 40% over these last 10 years due to the rapid decline of the US dollar, yet, even with this, the Japanese government has painted Japan into a corner whereby we cannot unload this debt without causing a quick rise in the yen and hurting Japan's export economy.

Silver & gold price explosion is flashing warning signs about the economy

Gold breaks new record to $1503 the day of the posting of this article

Not only that, at least twice in the last 365 days, Japan (and most recently foreign central banks) has intervened in the dollar x yen rate and flushed billion of yen (billions of US dollars) in foolish attempts (that haven't worked) in order to lower the value of then yen.


The fact of the matter is that, for reconstruction, as Peter Schiff points out, Japan should want a stronger yen as that would make our buying of oil and raw materials as well as other items needed to rebuild the ravaged areas cheaper.


But, no! As usual, when it comes to doing something about the economy, the government cannot admit its errors and try to strip them away. As is the case now, and has always been the case, the government of Japan's answer to financial problems is not to cut spending or to sell poorly valued and foolishly bought US government backed securities (that lose value every day), but the answer is, and always will be to spend and raise taxes.


That is why our economy has been so messed up for this last 20 years and that's why is is so easily predictable that our economy will be messed up for at least the next decade or more as Mish Shedlock so skillfully points out.


The politicians who live on dead and proven failure Keynesian economic policies are leading this country down the road to ruin. It will be soon enough, at this rate, that Japan will be like the Philippines. Throw this situation in with how the youth of this country have no where near the dedicated and hard work ethics of their fathers and grandfathers and you have a chemistry that spells out for a very grim economic future indeed


When we look back at what happened in twenty years from now, we'll not be surprised for a second that Japan will be jokingly referred to as the Northern Philippine archipelago. 

Absolute Proof of the Incompetency of the Japanese Government

This article is an explanation of the fools in the Japanese government and why they are there.


Have you ever heard of the Dunning Kruger Effect? The Dunning Kruger Effect says something to the effect that, in short, stupid people tend to overestimate their competence and underestimate the competence of others. In effect, incompetent people are incompetent. Because they are incompetent, they do not realize the extent of their own incompetence.

Get it? They are incompetent. Since they are incompetent, they do not - nor cannot - recognize their own incompetence. In fact, these incompetent people are often the ones who over estimate their abilities and often swagger and brag at work as they make a public display of their "skills."


People who are competent, on the other hand, are usually self-reflective and are aware of their own short-comings and make effort to work on those. 


Makes sense, right? Wise people are not boisterous. Fools are. There is an old Zen Buddhist saying that goes like this; "Those who don't know, say they do. Those who do know, say they don't." I reckon this shows us that even Buddha understood the Dunning Kruger Effect 4,000 years ago.

Today, I saw a good example of the Dunning Kruger Effect. It made me realize that this principle explains everything that's wrong with Japan's politics and politicians. I was reading Mish Shedlock and he was railing on the G20 for wasting time and money on coming up with an agreement that wasn't an agreement at all. Mish Wrote:


The G20 is a dysfunctional, totally useless organization. All 20 member nations have to agree to every proposal or there is no agreement. Thus, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia all have the power to nix any agreement.

The dispute this time however, had to do with trade imbalances in general and China in particular.

The fight was over a single 53 word sentence. 19 countries agreed to the statement but China would not. At the last moment, France (which is part of the G-20 through the EU) managed to come up with a wording change China could agree to.
G-20 Deal Reached, No One Knows What The Agreement Says.


Mish then went on to criticize the MSM and their inept reporting. He added:

Look at the entire communiqué, it should be crystal clear there is no agreement to do anything, and even if there was, the agreement is not binding.

Nonetheless, we can be 100% certain that Geithner and President Obama will be trumping up the "deftly" worded non-agreement.


I read this and shook my head in disgust. Then, not 30 minutes later, I stumbled upon the Japanese government's take on this news and the G20 "Agreement." I found an article on News On Japan saying that the Japanese government claims that an agreement was reached at the G20 meeting and that they were pleased with it. 


I chuckled.


Really? I agree with Mish. From reading other foreign news sites, as well as Mish, besides the headline "spin," I can't see where anyone else really thinks any agreement was reached. Nevertheless, Japan is tooting their own horn at this wonderful deal.


Kyodo News reports:


Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda hailed Saturday an agreement by the Group of 20 leading economies on global economic imbalances, saying a broad accord was reached. Referring to an envisioned schedule of drawing up a mutual assessment plan to reduce economic imbalances through November, when the G-20 leaders gather for the summit in France, Noda told a news conference after the two-day ministerial meeting in Paris, "As a start toward November, we had good discussions." He declined to unveil the detail negotiation process on the matter, saying the agreed set of tools is in line with what Tokyo wanted.  


Noda also indirectly urged China and other emerging economies to keep working together on forming the mechanism to tackle economic imbalances.


"Since all major countries in the (international) system, including Japan, will certainly be told" what needs to be improved, "we don't have to worry" about their cooperation, he said.


The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors agreed Saturday on a set of indicators including public debt and fiscal deficits, and private savings rate and private debt.
   
Get that last line? "G20 finance ministers and central bank governors agreed Saturday on a set of indicators including public debt and fiscal deficits..." Oh, really? 

This seems like a rerun of an old movie and we know how this ends. Japanese politicians go to international meetings and come back with great pronouncements of great accomplishments, but, ultimately all we really get from these "agreements" is the understanding that our politicians are dimwits.  That they are considered by the entire world as a bunch of rich buffoons. 


Japanese politicians a are laughing stock. Foreign governments realize they do not need to do anything more than pay lip service to Japan to get good financial help and cooperation. When it comes down to really doing anything, no one has to take Japan seriously. 


I mean, why should they? The Japanese public doesn't. They are incompetent. The Dunning Kruger Effect holds true in Japan.... Just like it did when Buddhism first came to Japan.

Japan Wasted $78 Billion on Global Warming Research

Don't even get me started on this. (Click on "play" for the video then read on to the story.)

Spinal Tap- Gimme Some Money

The Business Insider reports:

Japan spent an impressive $78 billion on global warming research in the past six years. However, none of 214 projects produced effective results, according to an official report featured in Japan Times.

This "fruitless" spending is under scrutiny as the government suffers under a heavy debt burden.

For one, the government shouldn't be in the business of "science." For two, they need to cut spending. Here's an excellent example of how AGW does fuel a big business scam to take our tax money and waste it on useless government projects:

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry spent about ¥1.6 billion on a project to produce livestock feedstuff from unsold boxed lunches from convenience stores. The project was abandoned after its management firm collapsed, the report says.

Yeah. Yeah... AGW deniers are all in the employ of the oil companies, right? Well, who needs oil companies when the government steals our money through taxes and then wastes it on nonsense like this?

Of course we should care for the environment and try to preserve it for future generations. But when the government tells us that they need to tax us more for such purposes, that should raise a red flag to any person who is not brain-dead.

Protect the environment for our children! Think globally, act locally. We don't need the government to interfere.

Hell, they can't even repair a pothole in the road without being late and way over budget. What makes anyone think they could protect the entire  earth?

Hasn't the government screwed everything up enough as it is?

The Japanese government wastes money on this sort of nonsense and then wants to raise taxes to pay for government debt? I hope the Japanese have the energy for some Egyptian style demonstrations.

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Japan in Recession..... Still!

Well, the news is out, confirming what I have been saying and blogging about all along: Japan is in recession (but everyone knows that) and printing money and increasing our public debt is just digging our hole deeper and deeper. 


You know, when you are digging yourself deeper and deeper into a hole, it's probably a good idea to stop digging! (Psst! Incredible as it may sound, I did not make that quote up myself. I hear it is an old quote!... Pass it on....)  


Twenty years of increasing our national burden with more government money printing and so-called "stimulus" programs that didn't work should have been enough to show that these types of policies do not work - and they cannot work - but there are still some people who just don't get it. That history proves it doesn't work should be obvious but it seems like some people are either asleep at the wheel. Here's a good example of someone who needs a lesson in Economics 101.


He's not a particularly fast learner it seems, is he?


The Daily Bail has two good articles today on how we have slipped back into recession and - Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!....





....the Japanese government wonks want to print more money in order to fix the economy and get us back on track again! (Gee, haven't they fixed us enough over these last 20 years?) 


But hey! Don't worry! Recovery is coming up around the bend!





The Daily Bail article states:


The Japanese economy shrank an annualized 1.1% in Q4 of 2010.  Meanwhile, food and commodity prices continue to rise, giving Japan the worst of both worlds in having to contend with both price inflation in food and energy and deflation in asset prices.  You may be wondering what happened to "Welcome to The Recovery"?  Not to worry -- when the numbers don't add up, you can expect a flurry of metaphors from government officials and economists, both of whom have advocated spending and printing money in prodigious amounts.  Masaaki Shirakawa of the Japanese central bank said the 4th quarter dip was just a momentary "pause" on the path to recovery.  Taro Saito of Nippon Life said the economy was just undergoing a brief "lull" -- soon we'll "hit bottom," "gain traction," etc.  This is just a little "blip," anyway, recovery is just around the corner.  Of course, recovery is always just around the corner.  Or gosh, maybe it's just a "soft patch." 


The Japanese government has been telling us for two decades that "recovery is right around the corner." Too bad we never turn the corner. More good news after this 20 years of monetary easing is 15.7% of the Japanese public being under the poverty line...


The article continues and spells out how Japan is showing the USA what's in store if they keep mimicking Japan:


Japan has been doing this song and dance for over twenty years -- ever since their own stock market and real estate bubbles burst back in 1989-90.  
Unfortunately, our policy response here in the US, despite protestations to the contrary, is mimicking Japan's.  We've bailed out our banks and large corporations, we continue to allow them to lie about asset values.  There is virtually no new credit growth outside of the government, and zero interest rates have done nothing but punish savers in favor of the large banks.


I mean, seriously, when you have a great policy like that that has shown these great results over these last twenty years, why change it? If you are the USA, why not copy it, right?

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Three Short News Stories About How Messed Up Japan's Finances Are

Here's three news stories on Japan this morning that just made me roll my eyes. The first one shows how Japan's public debt hit new highs... This causes the incompetents in the Japanese government to panic and try to throw a budget together somehow....


From The Wall Street Journal: 


Japan's outstanding public debt hit a record Y919.151 trillion at the end of last year, the Finance Ministry said Thursday, likely fueling concerns over the nation's fiscal health and adding to a sense of urgency within the government to quickly formulate a tax hike plan. The ministry's quarterly data showed public debt rose 1.1% from the end of September, reaching a level equivalent to 194% of Japan's nominal gross domestic product for the fiscal year ended March 2010. Central government liabilities tracked by the data include government bonds, short-term debts called financial bills and other kinds of borrowed money. The picture of Japan's fiscal house gets even worse if the long-term debt of local governments worth around Y200 trillion is also taken into account.

Writer's rendition of Japanese PM Naoto Kan

Like I've written about numerous times, these idiots in the government never have the idea to cut the budget. All they ever think about is raising taxes. But the people are taxed out already. More taxes are not the answer. Cutting expenditures is and the Japanese people are starting to get fed up with high taxes. There is a movement afoot to do something about them too.


The Economist reports:


It was hardly a "mad-as-hell" moment, but still. On learning on February 6th that he had won a landslide re-election victory as mayor of Nagoya, one of Japan's biggest industrial cities, Takashi Kawamura put on a pair of black rubber boots while a small group of supporters threw buckets of cold water over his head. Hours later, with a nod to America's tax-cutting rebels, Mr Kawamura declared that a kind of tea party had been born in Nagoya. He sat alongside his political ally, Hideaki Omura, who on the same day thrashed his rivals for the governorship of the surrounding prefecture of Aichi, home to Toyota. It was hard to judge how serious they were, not least because, dressed in anoraks, they looked like the Two Ronnies, a 1970s British comedy duo. "This is a citizen's revolution," Mr Omura declared.


Finally, as a result of these problems, and how the government never tables any ideas as to how to cut expenditures and only raise taxes, I predicted how current Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan will be out of office by the end of June.


Bloomberg Reports:

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's inability to break a stalemate over budget legislation threatens to make him the fifth straight premier to last no more than a year and end efforts to rein in the world's largest public debt. Kan has been unable to persuade opposition lawmakers to agree on financing bills for his record 92.4 trillion yen ($1.1 trillion) budget that begins in April, 44.3 trillion yen of which must be funded by government bonds. Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda last week said Japan's economy faces "the risk of economic slowdown" if parliament fails to move. Sometimes I get complaints from readers saying that I don't specifically state what Japan's government should cut from their budget... My friend's, there are a million things that could be cut. I would begin with something like a 10% ~ 20% across the board cut. Here's is some information for you. Where should we cut? I think we could cut everything by at least 10% across the board and still be fine (10% probably would only buy us a year or two's time!) Where should we cut? You decide. Have a look:  I searched and found this in English for you. It is highlights of the Japanese budget of 2009 & 2010 from Japan's Ministry of Finance. Especially look at page 2: We can definitely cut military expenditures. According to Wikipedia as of 2007 Japan is #7 in the world for military expenditures.  (We spend more than 0.8% of GDP on the military) Spending in 2010:  ¥47,903,000,000,000 (at ¥80 to the dollar) that's about $58,680,000,000. When we have the US military umbrella and the USA spends more than the rest of the world combined, why is Japan spending all this money? How about cutting that into half? Cut military pensions too Overseas Development? ¥682,000,000,000  that's  $8,350,000,000... Yeah, 15.7 of Japanese are under poverty line according to NY Times but we're throwing money away to other countries. How about cutting that to zero?  Further down below, on the same page, you'll see ¥5,196,800,000,000  ($63,658,000,000) for "miscellaneous." Yes, this is the category that our politicians get into scandals about every year for having geisha parties and lighting up the town. How about cutting all politician's staff and budgets by 40%? I could go on and on. Check top of page 4. A ¥13,000 allowance for every child!? About $160.... Morons! Why don't they just cut our taxes rather than just giving us our money back? Remember when former US president Bush did this crap? A lousy $160 per child? I can get twice that for a kidon the black market! Of course, I am only joking. Too bad this debt problem here is Japan is not a joke. Thanks to News on Japan