Thursday, July 03, 2008

Not Half Bad

On August 1, 2007, Richard Katz and Peter Ennis published an essay in Foreign Affairs magazine featuring predictions for the upcoming Diet sessions in the aftermath of the LDP/New Kōmeitō wipeout in the July 27 House of Councillors election.

Aside from failing to predict the physical collapse of Abe Shinzō (who could have done that?) the two gentlemen did a commendable job of prognostication, methinks.

Nota Bene - If you are wondering where the "near-zero returns on the savings accounts that the elderly use to buy daily necessities" comes from, it is Mr. Katz's contribution to the discipline. Nothing makes him happier than winding it up, putting it on the floor and watching it roll about.

I have always waited for someone, preferably ancient and weather-worn, to rasp, "That's very nice Richard...but if my mind and memory have not gone completely dim, have we not been stuck in deflation for the past decade?"

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