Originally Posted by jungle

The last decade in Japan was much like the one before that, they have outsourced to China and other parts of Asia. They have almost zero immigration and a demographic that is rapidly going to the very old. Rather than shake off the excess, they merely exported it.

Unfortunately, like the US, they have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. This is a strong discouragement to investment and growth. High tax rates cause a brain drain and a money drain over the long term.

Hope. That has always been a very thin reed to lean on. I have found it more realistic to act without hope that some outside entity will save us. Gridlock is the status quo and we know what that has brought us to, not good enough. I don't suggest you lose hope, but I do suggest you act with the knowledge of what is happening and ignore the many failed promises. History is the best yardstick and history shows that crisis management is the common denominator. Try to get ahead of the curve.

The only real hope is that all of the communist countries have embraced capitalism, and we may just catch up to them someday.