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Japan: Debt reached 1025000000000000 Yen
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Japan's central government debt stood at 1,025.0 trillion yen ($10.08 trillion) as of the end of fiscal 2013, surpassing the previous year's 991.6 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

    The ministry also projected the debt would reach 1,143.9 trillion yen by the end of the current fiscal year starting April 1, putting pressure on the government to strive to restore Japan's fiscal health, the worst among major developed economies.

    According to the quarterly survey, the end-March total consisted of 853.8 trillion yen in government bonds, 55.5 trillion yen in borrowing mainly from financial institutions, and 115.7 trillion yen in financing bills, or short-term notes up to six months.

    As of March 31, per-capita debt -- or the amount owed per head of population -- was about 8.06 million yen, based on Japan's population of around 127.1 million as of April 1.

    Japan's public debt is more than 200 percent of gross domestic product. Central government debt topped 1,000 trillion yen for the fourth straight quarter.

    All is good..

  • 13 Replies sorted by
  • johnnymossvillejohnnymossville

    They could always print a 1000 Trillion Yen note and pay it off. I'd like to see a country try such a feat.

  • jrdjrd

    And yet the inflation and currency collapse that debt hysterics have predicted for years is nowhere in sight. Next month, next year, next decade -- just you wait!

    It couldn't possibly be true that regarding sovereign debt in the same way we regard personal debt makes no sense -- or, even worse, that the gods really won't punish sovereign debtors like Japan, in order to satisfy the demands of morality-play economics.

    But never mind, no point arguing about the future, unless somebody here is a clairvoyant. OTOH, if everyone who just knows countries can't borrow like this and expect to survive had been putting their own money on this bet, they'd be bankrupt by now. All you had to do was short the Yen over the last 20+ years. Know anyone who got rich that way?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    And yet the inflation and currency collapse that debt hysterics have predicted for years is nowhere in sight. Next month, next year, next decade -- just you wait!

    It is quite ill logic. It is same as declare that you are immortal and won't die as was told to you because you lived 50 years.

    Poor Japan will pay for all, including debt. Big amount of this debt are retirement money that poor old Japanese won't ever see.

  • jrdjrd

    It's not illogical, because countries are effectively immortal -- they never pay off their debt, because there are always new lenders (they get born every day) and there's always demand for government debt.

    Places like Greece, etc. are not comparable, by way of example. Conditions are completely different. "Greece" could happen anywhere, but so could the tooth fairy.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    It's not illogical, because countries are effectively immortal -- they never pay off their debt, because there are always new lenders (they get born every day) and there's always demand for government debt.

    It is just collection of false claims.

    Countries most of the time pay their debt (ones who don't pay using blood or other means), it is not always new lenders (unfortunately) and no, it is not always demand for new government debt (it is enough just to read official releases for US debt that is now bought by FED in large part, in Japan it is very similar).

  • johnnymossvillejohnnymossville

    Debt is mostly about control, and buying time until after the next election, and/or loyalty if you live in a place with fixed elections. There's always the next election or favor, or loyalty to foster. When a govt is put in charge of collecting debt, that is, who to collect and not collect that debt from through taxes, regulations, fees, interest rates, favoritism, punishment,.... they hold great power over the people. Debt in itself is not a bad thing in the short run, but in the long run it becomes abused by politics. EVERYTHING is about Money and Politics. Debt is a great way to use both effectively.

  • jrdjrd

    When a govt is put in charge of collecting debt, that is, who to collect and not collect that debt from through taxes, regulations, fees, interest rates, favoritism, punishment,.... they hold great power over the people.

    Yeah .. it's called a national economy. Don't know what you intend to put in its place, in a country of a few hundred million people, but that's probably best left alone, lest we start hearing renewed demands for the gold standard (please note that there were numerous financial crises -- one every few years -- when the U.S. was on the gold standard).

    Countries most of the time pay their debt

    Name one?

  • johnnymossvillejohnnymossville

    @jrd State budgets in the USA have to balance their budgets every single year. They manage, Some states thrive and others do poorly. States have debt too, but they don't run deficits, at least traditionally.

    The federal govt didn't even start collecting taxes in the USA until 1908. The country had an economy before 1908.

  • jrdjrd

    @johnnymossville

    And you want to go back to 1908, and the kind of life people had then?

    That states balance their budgets says nothing about the operation of sovereign currencies. The rules are completely different.

  • bwhitzbwhitz

    And you want to go back to 1908, and the kind of life people had then?

    It's illogical to imply that the raised quality of life we have now is BECAUSE of our federal taxes. Correlation does not imply causation. This is a borderline straw-man argument. One commonly made by academics, bureaucrats, and government officials to justify their expansion and power. I mean, you obviously won't believe me, because we very different philosophies, but we would be in much better shape if everything was left to the states... and people could vote with their wallets on which states to move to, or do business in. There's no accountability in the federal government, until well, it collapses.

  • jrdjrd

    but we would be in much better shape if everything was left to the states... and people could vote with their wallets on which states to move to,

    In other words, the right-wing southern states, with their high poverty, low wages, anti-union policies, poor educational and literacy levels and high social dysfunction (crime, etc.) would be depopulated -- to the extent people actually could "vote with their wallets" and move -- in favor of the rich, high-tax states which typically support a strong federal government (which incidentally, pays into the southern states more than they pay in federal taxes). And this is supposed to be an endorsement of states' rights?

    As for the effects of federal taxes -- it's not hard to imagine what the U.S. would be today without, for example, the interstate highway system, heavily subsidized industries (aerospace, high tech, energy, weaponry, pharmaceuticals, etc.), the federally funded internet, rural electrification projects far beyond the means of the states, etc. etc. etc. There are plenty of countries to supply the example: how about paradises like Latvia or Guatemala?

    But keeping dreaming....

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    There are plenty of countries to supply the example: how about paradises like Latvia or Guatemala?

    Many people in this countries have different understanding of parasite countries, like number one candidate being... US.

  • v10tdiv10tdi

    ...States have debt too, but they don't run deficits, at least traditionally...

    Maybe it depends on what qualifies as "debt" or "deficit?"

    ...Big amount of this debt are retirement money that poor old Japanese won't ever see...

    So you might say that states/municipalities with large amount of un/under funded pensions are in debt...

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