[quote=CA renter][quote=The-Shoveler]In short Japan did everything they could not to have inflation.[/quote]
Exactly. This is what made the deflationary period last so long, IMHO. If they had let it happen swiftly, all those Japanese savers would be in a better position today, IMO.
They also had deflation because of the enormous debt they carried. Debt is inflationary when it’s being incurred, but it’s deflationary in the future as the carrying costs eat away at the purchasing power of workers in the future.[/quote]
In the case of Japan’s government debt almost all of it is owned by its citizens, so the real carrying cost is almost zero.
It is almost the same with most of the recent U.S.A. debt incurred as almost of it is owned by the Fed. (Almost 6 trillion) and the carrying cost of that is “ZERO”.
Almost all the rest is owned by U.S.A. pension funds (again the real carrying cost of that is almost zero).
China has the most U.S.A. debt of any country at slightly more than one trillion (OK that has a real carrying cost).
