And they thought that just cheap money was enough....
"Throughout history, rich and poor countries alike have been lending, borrowing, crashing - and recovering - their way through an extraordinary range of financial crises. Each time, the experts have chimed, this time is different, claiming the old rules of valuation no longer apply and that the new situation bears little similarity to past disasters."
Kenneth Rogoff & Carmen Reinhart, This Time is Different
As Japan approves its nth stimulus package trying to avoid its fifth recession in 15 years, one wonders what did the rest of the world learned about Japan's experience of the past 25 years. Let me see. Avoiding contracting prematurely fiscal policy? No, everybody did that and we are still trying to do more on this one. Delaying financial sector restructuring? Welcome to the brave Euroland. Thinking that exports will save you? Again everybody, and hopefully if this fails we can still export to the rest of the Galaxy.
Never say one has learned a lesson....
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