It is time to say goodbye to the confident reassurances from American policymakers that Japan could not "happen here."? It is also time to regret the smug assertions that Japan's "lost decade"? of growth was due to a combination of uniquely Japanese failings "“ from insufficient policy activism to weak corporate governance and poor political leadership.
American policymakers, together with their European counterparts, are realizing something that Japan has been experiencing for a while: It is very difficult to manage well an economy hobbled by structural impediments and balance sheet excesses. Absent a major change in the effectiveness of the policy approach, this realization will likely lead to broadening societal concerns about the possible "Japanization"? of America and, with that, worries that under such circumstances the country would not be able to navigate such a phenomenon as well as Japan has.
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