Japan - The Fading Economy

Japan became the first of the modern Asian countries to experience massive sustained economic growth. Japan had a lot going for it after the end of the war, it was able to rebuild with the help of the allies and go through its own modern industrial revolution. In the 1960s, Japan was growing at a rate of 10% a year which for a national economy was unheard of at the time, this economic growth continued and japan was able to ride the wave of globalization as the world's low-cost manufacturer. Japan developed a huge car industry, it was at the forefront of consumer electronics and was working meticulously to make sure that this newfound wealth was being invested wisely into infrastructure like high-speed rail, airports and metro systems that would make their economy even more efficient. At its peak, there was so much wealth in japan that the real estate market of Tokyo had some pretty crazy anomalies. In the late 80’s it was estimated that the imperial palace covering an area of 3.4 square kilometers in central Tokyo had a real estate land value greater than all of the real estate in California. Of course, the imperial palace was never for sale and this was based on the cost per square feet in the area but it still should give a good idea of just how much money was washing around in Japan. In this episode, we will look at how this all went so wrong and what it can tell us about countries that are today where japan was 40 years ago.