Japan's decline a warning to Germany

For the first time in 31 years Japan imported more goods than it exported in 2011. Japan should be a warning to Germany of how quickly an economy can sink, writes the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung: "One reason for this first gap in the balance of trade is of course the nuclear accident at Fukushima. ... But a prolonged downward trend is the main explanation for this surprising swing into the minus zone. There are a number of reasons for it: the decades of LDP party rule in Tokyo have crippled the country and preserved outdated economic structures. After the stock bubble the policymakers no longer dared to touch the ailing banks. And the record debt of more than 200 percent of GDP puts an enormous burden of interest on the country. So what can we expect now? Well for example that there should be another change in government soon, ... that politics should regulate the financial institutes, and that Germany urgently needs to stop the explosive rise in its sovereign debt caused by the financial crisis."

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