Japan's economy has collapsed. The value of wages in relation to the rest of the world is dropping like a stone. So many who used to be able to take a yearly overseas trip potentially won't be able to for the next decade or two unless things change.
But it's an odd thing, the "economy has collapsed" but very few go hungry, most are housed, live with dignity, streets are clean and safe, bridges aren't crumbling, education is high, and so on. I don't wanna put Japan on a pedestal (I live here, the country has its problems indeed), but it's an interesting example of (at least currently) the possibility to "collapse" relative to other rich countries, but still maintain a high quality of life in general.
Also an aging population problem I believe though right? So if nothing else changed, today might not be the 'worst' it could get, with lower GDP and increased health and social care costs.
yea, the quality of life for the average person is a better metric to say is a system is working but usually people always use GDP per capita or some other metric like that and most of that doesn't reflect inequality. America is amazing for the people at the top and they get insanely wealthy but the average person really isn't sharing the spoils of that.
Standards. It's the same thing in some European countries. Wages are down, unemployment is up, and yet the standard of living hasn't changed because there are certain standards people take for granted as being obvious and basic.
You'll still hear people complaining about things like a crack in the road that hasn't been repaired in a timely manner (timely being less than 2 weeks).
> An economic collapse means a massive, severe breakdown of a regional or national economy where normal trade, banking, and commerce largely stop
I think you may be using the word 'collapse' incorrectly here, as do other commenters under you - no eastern European economy is 'collapsing' in any meaningful way, maybe apart from Belarus who is quite opaque from outside and Ukraine for obvious reasons.
They sacrificed the young gen to keep older gens secure.
> The ice-agers’ misfortunes contrast starkly with those of the generation that came just before. During the bubble years of the 1980s, companies hired voraciously.
> Everything changed as the bubble popped in the early 1990s. Japan’s rigid employment system made it hard to shed existing workers, so they cut hiring instead. The ratio of job openings to college applicants fell from nearly three at peak to below one by 2000.
> Many graduates who failed to secure regular jobs ended up in temporary or contract work. Japan’s labour market sharply distinguishes between regular workers, who enjoy strong legal protections and seniority-based pay rises, and irregular ones, who often do similar work for much less money and are the first to be laid off in downturns.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 33.9 ms ] threadYou'll still hear people complaining about things like a crack in the road that hasn't been repaired in a timely manner (timely being less than 2 weeks).
I think you may be using the word 'collapse' incorrectly here, as do other commenters under you - no eastern European economy is 'collapsing' in any meaningful way, maybe apart from Belarus who is quite opaque from outside and Ukraine for obvious reasons.
> The ice-agers’ misfortunes contrast starkly with those of the generation that came just before. During the bubble years of the 1980s, companies hired voraciously.
> Everything changed as the bubble popped in the early 1990s. Japan’s rigid employment system made it hard to shed existing workers, so they cut hiring instead. The ratio of job openings to college applicants fell from nearly three at peak to below one by 2000.
> Many graduates who failed to secure regular jobs ended up in temporary or contract work. Japan’s labour market sharply distinguishes between regular workers, who enjoy strong legal protections and seniority-based pay rises, and irregular ones, who often do similar work for much less money and are the first to be laid off in downturns.