Coming Soon: A Reply to Paul Krugman
paul krugman, matt yglesias, new york times, lost decades
Continue reading →Category Archives: Japan
Japan’s “Lost Decades”: The Sophistry Continues
My article in today’s New York Times Sunday Review has been generating heat as well as light. An article I have written on Japan for the January 8 New York Times Sunday Review went live at the nytimes.com website yesterday … Continue reading →
The Fingleton Invitation: Progress Report
People have asked me what happened to the Fingleton Invitation. The answer is nothing. Some months ago I invited Ed Lincoln, a former Tokyo-based economic adviser to the U.S. government, to join me for a public discussion of the Japanese … Continue reading →
An Open Letter to Professor Edward J. Lincoln
The letter below, to the Clinton administration’s chief Japan economist, is self-explanatory. Dear Ed: Having heard nothing from you over the summer despite several private attempts to make contact, I must now press publicly for an answer. As you know, … Continue reading →
Dollars and Dragons
I have just published the article below in the American Conservative. TOKYO—In the mid 1990s, I published a book entitled Blindside: Why Japan Is Still on Track to Overtake the U.S. By the Year 2000. The prediction in the subtitle … Continue reading →
Best Books On Japan: A Second Opinion
I have had occasion to second-guess a recent list of best books on Japan. An old joke has it that a newspaper editor is a person who separates the wheat from the chaff, and then prints the chaff. On this … Continue reading →
The Weight of the Yen
As I have repeatedly documented at this website, the story of Japan’s two lost decades is a myth. But if I am right, how come so many ostensibly reliable observers seem to disagree with me? There are several reasons, none … Continue reading →
My $10,000 charity offer: an appearance on Thom Hartmann’s show
I am still awaiting news from Ed Lincoln on whether he will join me for a debate. In the meantime my offer has not gone unnoticed elsewhere. I created quite a splash with my offer last month to pay $10,000 … Continue reading →
An invitation, some surprising facts, and two elusive experts
For thirteen years now I have been trying to organize a public debate on what really happened to the Japanese economy. The effort continues. The facts below have convinced at least one top American economic thinker that a debate is … Continue reading →
A $10,000 offer for Robby Feldman and Ed Lincoln
Let’s sort out once and for all what has really happened to the Japanese economy in the last two decades. Some months ago I offered to make a $5,000 donation to charity if any of ten influential Western commentators joined … Continue reading →