tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22301740.post6131168564619334956..comments2024-03-26T09:49:07.212-07:00Comments on The Scratching Post: How The Rich Get Richer, Japanese StyleK T Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259428595745509790noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22301740.post-49484174828976429002014-11-13T10:30:53.744-08:002014-11-13T10:30:53.744-08:00Yes, exactly. And I keep thinking that what is goi...Yes, exactly. And I keep thinking that what is going on in Japan is that, after decades of thrifty Japanese saving their money at a higher rate than almost anyone else in the world[1], the government and the banks and the stock-market players have worked out a scheme to steal their savings from them.<br /><br />[1] The Japanese household savings rate was almost 25% when I was a kid, and didn't drop below 10% until the late 1990s (<a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/publications/aus_japan/chapter3.html" rel="nofollow">see Figure 3.5 in this document, for example</a>. I expect that all that money just sitting there in bank accounts is an overwhelming temptation to the kind of person who wants to get money at any cost.tim eiselehttp://somethingscrawlinginmyhair.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22301740.post-17381808992340603872014-11-13T10:23:41.690-08:002014-11-13T10:23:41.690-08:00Also, Japan will collapse, due to demographics. I...Also, Japan will collapse, due to demographics. I don't have a nickel invested in anything Japanese.B-Daddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13880092017105841256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22301740.post-8188551925073975502014-11-13T10:22:41.834-08:002014-11-13T10:22:41.834-08:00Now you're talking. It was for this reason th...Now you're talking. It was for this reason that I came around to supporting the gold standard as national currency, it makes such shenanigans harder to execute and shorter lived.<br /><br />This is actually the core legitimate complaint of the Occupy movement, even if they didn't fully grasp it. Notice that this harms the upper middle class the most, because it devalues the wealth created through real businesses. Who is a threat to the wealthy? Not the poor, but the upper middle class. As a result, this scheme also serves to keep the wealthy in positions of power and influence.B-Daddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13880092017105841256noreply@blogger.com