[ QUOTE ]
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.
[/ QUOTE ]
The Japanese don't invest? Are you selectively forgetting the 1950's-1980's? Japanese investment activity reached feverish heights during the 1980's. They used EXTREME amounts of leverage just as US investors did in the 1920's and are have done for the past few years (and that you are suggesting people should do today).
By the way, in the 1930's the US enacted laws to limit the amount of stock that investors could buy using leverage to prevent the lemmings from doing what they are doing today. I believe the same thing will happen several years from now with respect to real estate.
And yes, the Japanese banking system is in shambles. That is what happens when your banking system collapses and they have done a poor job rebuilding.
The Japanese financial system is corrupt? We are not exactly Switzerland ourselves. How sound do you think our banking system is? Are you aware of the fact that banks currently lend out on average of 120% of their deposits? If you don't like 100 year mortgages, how do you feel about interest only or negative amortization loans that or option ARMs that balloon after several years?
The Freedom Home Equity Loan