At graduate school in Japan, I was careful to rarely talk politics to Chinese students.
The reason was I assumed they were being spied on by fellow students at the behest of the Chinese security services.
China controls dissidents abroad through relatives back home
06 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: China, dissent, Japan, tinpot dictatorships, totalitarian dictatorships
Agricultural subsidies as a % of gross farm receipts in USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand since 1986
02 Feb 2016 1 Comment
in economic history, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: agricultural subsidies, Australia, Canada, cultural economics, Japan
Source: Agricultural policy – Agricultural support – OECD Data.
Agricultural support is defined as the annual monetary value of gross transfers to agriculture from consumers and taxpayers arising from government policies that support agriculture, regardless of their objectives and economic impacts.
From 1950, Japan doubled their standard of living every 8 years
02 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles Tags: East Asian Tigers, Japan
G7, Australian, Danish and New Zealand average personal income tax and social security contribution rates
01 Feb 2016 Leave a comment
in politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Social Security taxes, taxation and labour supply, the dish economy
G7, Danish, Australian and New Zealand marginal income tax and social security contribution rates
31 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, public economics Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, social insurance, Social Security taxes, taxation and labour supply
Ordinary French, Germans, Italians and Danish pay much higher marginal tax rates and that is before their high rates of GST.
Data extracted on 30 Jan 2016 03:08 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat.
Japan Keeps Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger
09 Jan 2016 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, transport economics Tags: Japan
…ridership at the Kami-Shirataki station had dramatically fallen because of its remote location, and freight service had ended there as well.Japan Railways was getting ready to shut the station down for good—until they noticed that it was still being used every day by the high-schooler. So they decided to keep the station open for her until she graduates.
The company’s even adjusted the train’s timetable according to the girl’s schedule. The unnamed girl is expected to graduate this March, which is when the station will finally be closed.
Source: Japan Keeps The Defunct Kami-Shirataki Train Station Open for Just One High-School Girl – CityLab
Median ages in the USA and Japan
31 Dec 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, population economics Tags: Japan
Why are Scandinavians so thin? Still few overweight Japanese
08 Nov 2015 1 Comment
in health economics Tags: Denmark, economics of obesity, Finland, Japan, Norway, Scandinavia, Sweden
He who is first is now last: real GDP per capita of the East Asian Tigers since 1950
05 Nov 2015 1 Comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles Tags: East Asian Tigers, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan
Japan has gone first to be last having been just overtaken in the last year or two by South Korea on a per capita real GDP basis, PPP. The Lost Decade certainly has taken its toll on Japanese relative prosperity. Singapore overtook Japan in the 1970s – a testament to the Singapore miracle. Hong Kong too overtook Japan on a purchasing power basis in the mid-1990s followed not long after by Taiwan. Singapore is seriously rich.
Source: The Conference Board. 2015. The Conference Board Total Economy Database™, May 2015, http://www.conference-board.org/data/economydatabase/
The Japanese gender pay gap at the 10th, 50th and 90th percentile since 1975
23 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: compensating differentials, gender wage gap, Japan
The unadjusted gender pay gap is still large in Japan but is declining slowly.
Hours worked per working age American, British, French and Japanese since 1950
06 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, labour economics, labour supply Tags: British economy, France, Japan
Source: Data extracted on 05 Oct 2015 22:01 UTC (GMT) from OECD.Stat and The Conference Board. 2015. The Conference Board Total Economy Database™, May 2015, http://www.conference-board.org/data/economydatabase/
Life in an American concentration camp (Beautiful photos from a Japanese-American “internment camp.”)
01 Oct 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, laws of war, Music, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Civil Liberties, Japan, Rap music, wartime detention, wartime interment, World War II
No Generation Rent in #Nihon – real housing prices in #Japan and #SouthKorea since 1975
16 Sep 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles, urban economics Tags: Generation Rent, housing affordability, housing prices, Japan, land supply, land use planning, NIMBYs, South Korea, zoning
Source: International House Price Database – Dallas Fed
Note: The house price index series is an index constructed with nominal house price data. The real house price index is an index calculated by deflating the nominal house price series with a country’s personal consumption expenditure deflator.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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