Posts in "Japan"

By Wesley Messamore at 7:54AM

Mar 15, 2011

Fukushima Meltdown is a Triumph, not Tragedy for Nuclear Power

The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan proved once and for all that nuclear energy is a remarkably, I daresay, miraculously safe source of clean and reliable energy -- though you wouldn't get that impression from watching the mainstream media coverage as events unfold at the earthquake-stricken Fukushima power plant in Japan.

With overblown scare headlines using loaded words like "Nuclear Disaster" (m), "Nuclear Nightmare" (m), and "Dramatic Escalation" (m), you'd think the media was trying to sell more newspapers and garner more viewers.

While body counts as a result of the earthquake and tsunami number into the tens of thousands, establishment media outlets shamelessly try to outdo each other in their alarmist and sensational rhetoric for a bigger piece of the public's attention. But the truth is often less dramatic, exciting, or scary.

Read more here

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By Creighton Harrington at 9:01AM

Mar 13, 2011

The Logic That Just Won't Die

The Broken-Window Fallacy spouted, again, by an alleged economic expert.

Friday's massive earthquake...may provide a jolt to the [Japanese] economy over the short term, Lawrence Summers, president emeritus of Harvard University and former director of the White House National Economic Council...
"...It may lead to some temporary increments, ironically, to GDP, as a process of rebuilding takes place."
After the Kobe earthquake in 1995 Japan actually gained some economic strength due to the process of reconstruction, he added.

Read the rest here.

The fact that he's basing this on the GDP just shows how misleading of a statistic it is to base economic health upon.

But, of course, Fox, not to be outdone, said:

The earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday could ultimately spur economic growth as the recovery effort creates demand for goods and services needed to repair and replace devastated industries, buildings and infrastructure...

This article here.

Honestly, did anyone expect anything less from our experts?

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By Creighton Harrington at 6:02PM

Mar 5, 2010

The Problem With The "Expert"

...by "expert" I mean Paul Krugman. Here is a guy who is, essentially, the economic authority in America. He teaches at Princeton, won the Nobel Prize in Economics (which is almost as insane as Obama winning the Nobel Prize for anything), and, worst of all, preaches his Keynesian blather all over the New York Times for every impressionable would-be scholar to read.

Now, what has Krugman said that perterbs me so? Well, honestly, its just that he was mentioned in an article and it got me thinking about it again, but soon enough I was back to fond memories of Krugman preaching how wonderful our economy is, how we need to offset the dot-com bubble with a housing bubble, how interest rates need to go lower and lower and government spending needs to go higher and higher. And while every “expert” on Wall Street, at the Fed, and on the Hill is crying the same thing (except Ron Paul of course) while simultaneously mocking legit economists like everyone at the Mises Institute, Peter Schiff, and, to some extent, Jim Rogers for their archaic outlook on economics.

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By Bonnie Kristian at 10:11AM

Jan 31, 2010

Surprise, Surprise: Japan Doesn't Like Endless Occupation

If you've read Blowback, you're well acquainted with the long and less-than-honorable history of the American occupation of Japan since WW2. If you haven't, read it. In the meantime, here's the situation to which these protestors object:

Some 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, with more than half on the southern island of Okinawa.
Residents have complained for years about noise, pollution and crime around the bases.

Not surprisingly, many Japanese object to this long-term American military presence on their land -- and what looks like their government's possible willingness to sell them out to curry favor with Washington. The Japanese cabinet will announce its decision in May.

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By Bonnie Kristian at 7:53PM

Jun 15, 2009

International Demand for U.S. Assets Slows

From Bloomberg:

International purchases of American financial assets grew more slowly in April as China, Japan and Russia pared demand for Treasuries, underscoring the danger of U.S.

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By Bonnie Kristian at 12:31AM

Jun 13, 2009

Japan shedding American debt?

Just as the Bank of China announces it is interested in reducing its foreign assets -- or, in other words, in stopping taking on American debt -- it seems Japan may be doing something along the same lines. Reports Japan Today: