AN ACCOUNTING:

A Jolt For Japan? (Robert J. Samuelson, October 9, 2002, The Washington Post)

Japan's economy has sputtered in and out of recession for a decade without providing much support for the rest of the world. What meager growth it has achieved has depended on massive government budget deficits; the national debt has ballooned to about 140 percent of gross domestic product from 65 percent of GDP in 1990.

This is one of those facts that is staggering when you see it. By way of comparison, America's national debt now ($6.2T), even after the exorbitant expenditures for the Cold War is only about 2/3rds of GDP (over $10T). In other words, at our low point we're as well off as Japan was at its high point. That's the kind of number to keep in mind when people predict inevitable American decline. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 9, 2002 8:00 PM