EXCEPT THAT WHAT THEY NEED TO IMPORT IS A CULTURE:

A Free-Trade Plan to Save Japan (GEORGE MELLOAN, 11/07/11, WSJ)

Yoshihiko Noda, selected to lead the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) only two months ago, already is contemplating a bold move. Prime Minister Noda's idea is to bring Japan into the U.S.-led negotiations aimed at greatly expanding the Trans-Pacific Partnership into a broad free trade zone.

If Japan and the U.S. jointly back the TPP with its goal of a 10-year dismantling of all tariffs, they could significantly expand Pacific Basin trade flows. Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam already are part of the negotiations. China is a notable absentee.

Freer Trans-Pacific trade would have special importance for Japan, which has been stuck for years with slow economic growth, a huge public debt, an aging population, and a large U.S. dollar trove that loses value every time the dollar sinks to a new low. A U.S.-Japan-centered TPP would help Japan escape from the old worn-out Japan Inc., mercantilist economic model that has burdened it for two decades.

Posted by oj at November 7, 2011 5:54 AM
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