Re: [tlug] (OT) The enigma of Japan (was: UNIX jobs on TLUG)

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

JC Helary writes:

 > Besides, how does US "mobility" compare to other economies ? I'd be  
 > surprised to see such a gap in mobility stats.

*sigh*

I'll see if I can dig up some numbers for you.  20-25 years ago (when
I was hanging out with labor economists a lot and they showed me the
numbers they were working on) it was *big*, but I'm not a specialist
and my current colleagues don't actually look at numbers very
often. :-(  It may take a couple weeks.

 > I am convinced that the US ability to recover from whatever crisis has  
 > nothing to do with mobility. I am convinced that has more to do with  
 > the world accepting to lend a huge amount of cash to the US since the  
 > end of the gold standard.

You think a massive inflow of *cash* produces anything but inflation
in the absence of productivity in the recipient of that flow?  And
just how dumb do you think "the world" is, sending money to the U.S.
when you apparently think there are more robust, productive
opportunities elsewhere?

 > I am convinced it has more to do with the fact that the US was not
 > heavily touched by neither WWI nor WWII,

Your point would be well-taken if the question were "why is American
GDP so high"?  "Because they got a head start after the war(s)" surely
has a lot to do with it.  But it goes the other way when we're
discussing flexibility and resilience.

You see, actually, that's a *disadvantage* since about 1960, when the
basic industrial infrastructure in today's OECD countries got out of
the intensive care ward.  The point is that U.S. plant even today
averages about 5 years older than in ex-West Germany, and an amazing
10 years older than Japan.

 > and benefited greatly from doing business with both sides until
 > that was not politically sustainable anymore (and even then...).

Yeah, like there's any country in the world that doesn't do that.
Someone with one foot in France and the other in Japan really should
put that thing down before he shoots off *both* feet!