[squiffy]

Japanese basically don't invest. They save at low rates.

They don't have as strong and diversified a stock market as we do and the average Japanese simply doesn't invest as much as the average American. Think America in the 1940s or 1950s when investing was still only for the wealthy and not really for the masses.

There is much more corruption in Japan. And Japanese banks have not written off their bad loans. So there are lots of structural, legal, and socio-cultural problems with the Japanese economy.

I imagine we will see high inflation again some day. I don't have much confidence in the ability of American government to balance its budget or to avoid costly wars.