As the third largest economy in the world, Japan's economic situation has far more influence on the future world economy than Greece. Potential economic downturn and labor productivity decline are two major problems that Japan obviously cannot improve in a short time. Takatoshi Ito, an economist at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, even predicted that if the Japanese government did not raise the consumption tax rate from the current 8% to 15%, Japan would have a financial crisis between 202 1 and 2023.
In fact, the similarity between Japan and Greece is not only high debt. As a non-economic person, I have seen many amazing "spirit likeness" from some interesting perspectives.
Are Japanese and Greeks similar in character? ! Fumiko Yanagida, who once served as the secretary of the Greek ambassador to Japan and translated the summit meeting between Greece and Japan, revealed in the book The Truth of the Greeks published on 20 13: "No matter which Greek ambassador is in Japan, he will say:' You Japanese are very similar to us!'" In the eyes of the Greeks, the Japanese pay more attention to the way of the world than money and theory, and are not as decisive and heartless as western Europeans, so it is easy to have a heart-to-heart relationship with the Japanese. "
The Greeks even applied this emphasis on the world to politics. In the 1980s, in order to return the favor after the election, Greek political parties created many positions of civil servants, resulting in a country with a population of only 1 1 10,000, but they had to pay a large amount of pensions to more than 3 million retired old civil servants every month. At that time, the number of civil servants was so large that even the government could not grasp it, because every time the political power was handed over, the new regime would set up a new government agency on the grounds of revitalizing the local government, so that all political party supporters, large and small, would have an official.
Japan and Greece are hereditary politics? ! Nanako Murata, a special lecturer at the University of Tokyo who teaches the modern history of Greece, said: "In the long historical changes, the territory and borders of Greece often change, so the Greeks don't trust the government very much and feel that they can live well without it. When considering political issues, there is only one criterion, that is, whether it can bring benefits to itself. Like Japan, Greece has long been a hereditary politics, such as the retired Greek Prime Minister George W? Papandreou is the third prime minister of the Papandreou family after his grandfather and father, equivalent to three Japanese prime ministers Shinzo Abe, Taro Aso and Yukio Hatoyama. "
In Greece, the descendants of politicians are easy to be elected, and the election of party leaders pays more attention to bloodline and family status than personal merits. Eighty percent of the votes are in the hands of two hereditary political parties. No matter how the regime changes, there are only two or three political families as the main body, and it is difficult to find anyone who can surpass them.
In 2009, Greece fell into a debt crisis, and the left and right political parties began to take power alternately, and even established a joint regime for a time. Finally, the Citizens Party abandoned the old political party, and in June 5438+10 this year, Tsipras, the leader of the radical left-wing Coalition Party, was promoted to the position of Prime Minister. Although Tsipras said when he came to power that the regime he led was the first in Greece to put national interests first, he arranged his friends in important government positions one after another, causing public dissatisfaction. In this way, compared with the current decline in the support rate of the two major political parties in Japan, the people began to expect that the emergence of the "Roof of the World" power was highly "coincident".
Japan, like Greece, has a headache for US military bases? ! Chalu Danidis, director of the Athens National Institute of International Economic Relations, said, "During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, Japan and Greece were both under the umbrella of the United States. In the 1980s, protests and demonstrations often took place near four US military bases in Greece, demanding that US military bases leave Greece. It is also proposed that "US troops stationed in Greece must apply to the Greek government in advance if they operate in Greek territorial waters or airspace, and if they commit a crime, they must make a ruling according to Greek domestic law". I don't know whether these tough demands will work.
Greece is obviously more powerful than Japan in the "de-Americanization" action. Director Chaludanidis is also puzzled: "Why does Japan have to bear part of the expenses of the US troops stationed in Japan? The US military occupies Japanese territory, and it should be the United States that pays for Japan! "
Japan and Greece "burn money" to host the Olympic Games? ! Greece began to build a bubble for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games from 1998, and the total investment of 22 Olympic venues was around10 billion euros. By 2004, Greece's fiscal deficit ratio 1999 had doubled. According to Fumiko Yanagita, who lives in Athens, "After the game, the stadium was abandoned, covered with weeds and snakes."
At present, Japan, the world's largest debt country with a total debt of more than 65,438+0,000 trillion, is still accelerating its construction for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. This situation is also "like" Greece in those days.
Although 90% of Japan's debt is owed by its own people, that is, its own nationals or domestic enterprises, and its overseas net assets rank first in the world, it seems that the national debt is still controllable, and the risk of debt crisis in the short term is relatively small. But there are many similarities between Japan and Greece, which makes people feel that countries with "poor money" are similar!