October 22, 2003
From the desk of Jane Galt:Japan's banks
Japan's moribund banks, riddled with bad loans and and insider culture, are one of the main things crippling the Japanese economy. Daniel Gross warns that the latest bout of optimism for bank reform is overblown.
Posted by Jane Galt at October 22, 2003 1:19 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound linksKrugman has written more than a dozen articles about this in the past five years. Look under "Japan" at the Unofficial Paul Krugman archive (www.pkarchive.org).
“Ripplewood's lead U.S. executive "believed that the world's banks were driven by a set of rules as universal as the Newtonian laws of physics." But the Japanese bureaucrats overseeing Shinsei clung to the belief that banks existed not to return cash to their shareholders but to serve a societal need.”
Japan’s culture has to become more like ours. It must start to emphasize the individual over the collective. The Japanese have to abandon their reactionary and backward ways. It’s either that---or they will never catch up to America. Do I sound like a cultural imperialist? I sure hope so.
Japan IS becoming more like us, thanks to foreign direct investment. Look at the changes that Renault has made in the management of Nissan. Plus, the younger generation in Japan (those 35 and under in particular) are much more entrepreneurial and individualistic than their older counterparts. When I lived in Japan in 1990, I could see the cultural revolution brewing.
BTW, about two years ago, Japan's Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Omi, made the same statement about the need for Japan's culture to change in a speech in Washington, DC. I certainly was surprised to hear a senior Diet member say that!
Japan IS becoming more like us, thanks to foreign direct investment. Look at the changes that Renault has made in the management of Nissan. Plus, the younger generation in Japan (those 35 and under in particular) are much more entrepreneurial and individualistic than their older counterparts. When I lived in Japan in 1990, I could see the cultural revolution brewing.
BTW, about two years ago, Japan's Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Omi, made the same statement about the need for Japan's culture to change in a speech in Washington, DC. I certainly was surprised to hear a senior Diet member say that!
Japan IS becoming more like us, thanks to foreign direct investment. Look at the changes that Renault has made in the management of Nissan. Plus, the younger generation in Japan (those 35 and under in particular) are much more entrepreneurial and individualistic than their older counterparts. When I lived in Japan in 1990, I could see the cultural revolution brewing.
BTW, about two years ago, Japan's Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Omi, made the same statement about the need for Japan's culture to change in a speech in Washington, DC. I certainly was surprised to hear a senior Diet member say that!
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