Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM
I think you are confused. It's when those "stupid" school girls STOP buying expensive handbags that hurts the economy and causes a recession.
Japan already has high tariffs. People in Japan are impressed I drive a Volvo because it is considered an expensive luxury car in Japan. That isn't as true in the US.
Discouraging spending is not the way to solve a recession. When foreign goods are sold in Japan, it doesn't mean that 100% of the money is flushed out of Japan. The goods are tariffed, so the government gets money. Importers and retailers (combined) take 40% to 75% of the take, so a majority of the money from that Gucci bag probably stays in Japan. I think it's time to rethink that strategy.
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That's what I was getting at in my post. At leas that's what I meant anyways. I've seen a lot of things being sold in Japan for WAY more than they would go for in America. So I'm looking at the original post in this thread and I'm wondering how he or she justifies their list.
I think I touched on it in my last post, but the fact that most of those "expensive fashion goods" come from other countries (not the USA) contradicts the 3rd proposal on the list, which states: "Don't depend on the US market, work on markets everywhere".
It may seem strange... and it really doesn't make sense to me (although I'm not that knowledgable on the subject), but I've heard that a lot of the rice grown in Japan (in my area at least) gets exported to China. It might only have a little to do with this thread, but I'm curious about that. Does anyone know anything about that?
EDIT:
Here's some links I found on the topic:
Asia Times Online :: Japan News and Japanese Business and Economy
Japan must aim to be rice exporter: expert | Reuters
Japan Pledges Stockpiled Rice Exports of 300,000 Tons (Update2) - Bloomberg
I think those articles give some insight. I also think that if you've ever been to a super market in Japan you know that they are dealing plenty with other countries. Those articles all seemed to mention Japan's dependence on agricultural goods from other countries. I think most of that stuff comes from China, whose vegetables have extremely competative prices (like Japanese shitake will cost about twice as much as Chinese ones... and the Chinese packages will come with twice as many mushrooms). Another thing I was surprised about is that a lot of certain seafood comes from other countries as well, particularly Octupi (is that right?) from Spain and that area.