Japan’s lost decade is being nervously eyed by investors. After years of dismissing the post-bubble 1990s as a peculiar Japanese phenomenon, Americans and Europeans are searching the data for clues to the pain to come if the debt-mired west falls into deflation.
Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank head, thinks Japan’s “lost” 1990s are a “very clear example of the consequences” for those resisting fiscal austerity.
The 1990s were certainly bad for Japan. Gross domestic product rose at half the rate of slow-growing France and a third that of the US. The Nikkei 225 index halved from its peak above 36,000. For investors who thought shares then looked cheap, the market has since halved again.
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