The Japanese monetary and fiscal anti-deflation reflex in reaction to the crash in the 90´s was very much the same as the recent and currently ongoing global pumping approach. Japan has been running exactly the same "stimulus" as the rest of the world is now employing to fight the downturn. It didn´t work in Japan and I doubt it will work globally. If ever there was an economic illustration of the fact that "stimulus" cannot revive a REAL economy, Japan is that illustration. Words: 861

Highly leveraged economies, particularly those in which continual rollover of short-term debt is sustained only by confidence in relatively illiquid underlying assets, seldom survive forever, particularly if leverage continues to grow unchecked. Words: 1264

In spite of philosophical differences in many areas of politics and economics, Ron Paul and Simon Johnson agree that the cosiness that exists between the U. S. Congress and the financial elite has not worked, and is not working, in the best interest of the average American. They both suggest that major changes must be made in that relationship to strengthen the American economy. Is it too late, however, to avoid the repercussions of an even weaker greenback, rising inflation and the opening of the floodgates in the price of all investments related to gold and silver? Words: 1336

You've probably heard that the economy is recovering, that consumers are more optimistic, and that companies might soon begin hiring more workers than they're firing. Hooray. The only problem with such an upbeat prognosis is that large chunks of the U.S. economy remain addicted to financial painkillers. Words: 845