Japan is an interesting country to examine if you want insights about public policy.
We can study the impact of population aging on fiscal outcomes.- We can learn about the utter failure of Keynesian economics.
- We can understand why it’s a very bad idea to impose a value-added tax.
- We can find out that a higher tax burden is bad news.
- We can determine that higher spending is bad news.
Overall, I have a pessimistic view of Japan, but not because it has terrible policy by world standards (it’s currently ranked #20 for economic liberty).
Instead, my concern is that it is drifting in the wrong direction (it was ranked in the top 10 for economic freedom in the mid-1950s) and the country is dealing with grim demographics.
But not everyone shares my view. Indeed, some people even think Japan is a role model. Here are some…
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