[Sangetsu]

One thing you will find about Asian companies is that they are usually very sensitive about changes in the economy. It's rare that they are caught by surprise by tough economic times, they seem to have a better grasp on economical trends. That's not to say that they sometimes succumb to hard times and fail, but those occasions are the exception, and not the rule.

In America there were a couple of years of reports about the potential disaster waiting when the housing bubble burst, but people and businesses remained oblivious. "Why worry about tomorrow? It's such a bummer, and how can you enjoy the moment when you are actually thinking about the future?" Banks continued lending, even as the number of defaults increased, car companies continued producing gas-guzzlers, even as gasoline approached $4 a gallon.

Some people in America blamed capitalism and corporate greed, saying that the government wasn't doing enough to control things like pay for CEOs, or making the car manufacturers produce more fuel-efficient cars. But this was all nonsense. The better part of the blame rested with the people themselves. They were the ones who bought homes they couldn't afford, racked up an average of $13,000 per household of credit card debt, bought cars that used too much gas, and saved almost no money.

The government made it's share of mistakes as well, primarily by keeping the interest rates artificially low, so as to "stimulate growth", by requiring banks to enact "equal lending" policies, which meant that banks were required to lend money to people with questionable credit, and building infrastructure primarily for cars instead of focusing on trains, subways, or other forms of transportation.

It is much different in Asian countries, particularly Japan. The government does support a lot of industry by various means, but the people are generally responsible. They do not buy homes, cars, and other things which they cannot afford, and they save a very large percentage of their income. Housewives calculate their spending and savings down to a single yen. Since the people here are more responsible with their spending, growth occurs on a more modest and sustainable scale. The Japanese companies which suffer the most are the ones which rely on overseas sales in America for the majority of their profit. But even they have managed their companies in such a way as to survive when tough economic times come around (which they always do from time to time).

But even American companies do see a light at the end of the tunnel. An America CEO whom I know has been very accurate in his reading of the economy over the last several years (his company continued to earn strong profits even when things were at their worst), and he is predicting recovery and growth in 2010.