Krugman: The Moral Equivalent of Space Aliens (shakes up Japan's economy) [View all]

[pampango]

To almost everyone’s surprise, Japan — Japan! — has emerged as the advanced country most willing to break with austerian orthodoxy and try a combination of aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus. The verdict on Abenomics is, of course, still out, although early indications are good. But how did this happen?

David Pilling , writing in the FT, suggests that it was the double shock of the 2011 tsunami and China’s overtaking of Japan as the number 2 economy by market value. These shocks, he argues, broke through the fatalism and convinced the Japanese elite that something must be done.

Long-time readers know that I once joked that what we needed in America was a fake threat from space aliens, which would jolt us into action on stimulus; if the aliens were later revealed as a hoax, no matter.

Well, it looks as if Japan has found the moral equivalent of space aliens. Good for them.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-moral-equivalent-of-space-aliens/

The appearance of space aliens would shake up the world in more ways than just economic policy. The whole paradigm of "US vs. THEM" based on race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, etc. would seem less important than what planet (or solar system or galaxy) you were from.